


Making a Memory

by Stahlop



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Captain Swan Supernatural Summer 2020 (Once Upon a Time), F/M, Inspired by the Parent Trap, but with magic, eventually
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:15:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 67,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25135249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stahlop/pseuds/Stahlop
Summary: Hope Swan and Alice Jones meet at summer camp and immediately realize two things: they look exactly alike and they don’t like each other. But the more they delve into things the more they realize this is not just another case of The Parent Trap, and that there may be more at stake (and more danger) than they thought.
Relationships: Captain Hook | Killian Jones/Emma Swan
Comments: 206
Kudos: 121
Collections: Captain Swan Supernatural Summer 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well here it is! My submission for Captain Swan Supernatural Summer. This idea has been in my head since last summer, but I didn't have the motivation to tackle it until this year. All I knew is that I wanted some form of The Parent Trap but I didn't like the idea of Emma and Killian being divorced, and then this is what it became.
> 
> Just a warning, there is nothing supernatural for the first few chapters.
> 
> Thank you so much [ profdanglais](https://archiveofourown.org/users/profdanglais/pseuds/profdanglais) and [recoveringthesatellites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RecoveringTheSatellites/pseuds/RecoveringTheSatellites) for being my betas and helping me talk through this idea since last summer, and to [ mariakov81](https://www.tumblr.com/search/mariakov81/blog/mariakov81) for also helping me with ideas and the wonderful art she made for my birthday that was inspired by this story.
> 
> Also, check out the artwork by [ gingerchangeling](https://www.tumblr.com/search/gingerchangeling/blog/gingerchangeling) on my Tumblr (because I've yet to figure out how to post photos here).

For as long as she could remember, Hope Swan had wanted to go to sleepaway camp. Oh sure, she’d been going to regular day camps every summer since she was five, but she wanted some time away from her mom. She’d begged her every year, but Emma Swan told her every year that they couldn’t afford it (bail bonds kept them comfortable, but didn’t leave a lot for extras). And every year Hope was disappointed. But this year, the year she was 13 (14 in three months), all that changed. 

Hope’s older brother, Henry, had published his first novel a year ago at the age of 28 (yes, there was a 15 year age gap between them; that’s what happens when your mom first gets pregnant at 17, she waits a while before having another kid) and now had a sequel coming out, and had offered to pay for Hope to go to camp. Six weeks away from her mom. Not that Hope didn’t love her mom, but she was getting overbearing now that she was officially a teenager. It was as if she didn’t trust her at all. Hope had asked Henry if she was the same way when he turned 13, but he just gave a shrug and left it at that. Hope figured that being 45 with a 13-year-old and being 30 with a 13-year-old were completely different. And now she was here and having a great time and making new friends (Jen and Bianca), when she discovered the Jones girl.

She hadn’t noticed her on the first day. There were two 13-year-old girl cabins and Alice Jones happened to be in the other one. But on the second day, two girls from the other cabin said hi to her and called her Alice. She’d never seen these girls, since they weren’t in her cabin, but she figured it was the second day and all, and they must have mistaken her for another blonde-haired camper. But then more girls from the other cabin started calling her Alice and one of them tried to get her to go back to the other cabin with her. It was finally at lunch on that second day that she glanced over at the other cabin’s table and noticed a girl that looked exactly like her, except instead of her shoulder-length curls, this girl had much longer curls with purple streaks in them.

Jen noticed her looking. “The nerve of her! Coming here with your face!” She said angrily.

“Well, at least I understand why people thought I was someone else now.” Hope said. Of all the places to meet her doppleganger, she never would have thought it would have been at sleepaway camp. “It’s not a big deal, people will realize we’re two separate people eventually.” She said as she watched the Alice girl laughing with girls from her own cabin.

Except they didn’t. Everyday someone called her Alice and it was irritating Hope. Yes, they looked alike, but otherwise they were very different. Alice was a lot more punk rock, what with the streaks in her hair, the fact that she wore nothing but vintage band t-shirts and frayed cutoff shorts with Converse shoes. Hope mainly wore tank tops (sometimes with an open flannel shirt over it) with Bermuda shorts and sandals. She also wore her hair up in a simple ponytail, a perfect clone of her mother. Except for her blue eyes. Her mother seemed to have no idea where those came from seeing as she had green and her father had brown, or so she’d been told. She was too young to remember him when he died.  _ Must have had two recessive blue eyes finally meet up  _ her mother used to joke. Hope hadn’t got close enough to Alice to look at her eyes, but she wouldn’t be surprised if she had blue eyes too.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alice Jones was a bit of an odd duck. At least, that’s what she’d been told. Her Papa joked she had “a touch of the sight”. Alice didn’t think she was that peculiar. She likened herself to Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series (minus the radish earrings). She just got gut feelings about people. But running into a girl who looked almost identical to herself at a summer camp was nothing she could have ever predicted. It was unnerving to see someone who looked so similar to herself but wasn’t her. It was like looking into a mirror to see a super serious version of herself. She didn’t like it one bit. And Alice liked everything. Nothing rattled her. She didn’t know why this girl did.

It wasn’t as if this girl -- Hope, she’d learned her name was Hope -- had done anything to her either. Her mere presence just left her feeling unsettled. That touch of sight her father joked that she had been sending off warning bells in her gut that something wasn’t right. But what could she do to avoid her? Alice thought that would be easy considering the size of the camp, she just didn’t bank on Hope having many of the same interests that she did. That first day, after all the rules had been told to them, they got to try out different specials (activities) and Hope seemed to be at most of the ones Alice had also gone to, and the feeling in her gut grew worse and worse. Like they weren’t supposed to be around each other.

_ “Everyone deserves a chance no matter what is in their past, Starfish.” _ Her Papa would say to her. It had just been her and her Papa for as long as Alice could remember. She usually had trouble making friends, being slightly odd as many girls she’d tried to befriend had told her, but she loved making new friends when the opportunity arose, and if people didn’t mind her idiosyncrasies. She’d always loved playing make-believe. She would often pretend she was Alice from  _ Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland _ and have tea parties with her Papa and stuffed animals (Papa was always a pirate in her make-believe world though). As she got older she started sketching landscapes and the occasional self-portrait and had won several art prizes at her school and local contests. That was why she was confused about the feelings she was having concerning Hope. She should be forging a friendship with this girl, getting to know her, not feeling like she should stay as far away from her as possible. How many people got to meet someone who looked exactly like them?

“Hey, Alice, it’s time for lunch!” Viola yelled, startling Alice out of her thoughts. Alice usually loved mealtimes, she loved food, grilled cheese and onion rings being her favorite, but that was when she knew she’d see Hope and her stomach would practically rebel at a mere glance at her. She’d been so excited to finally get to go to sleepaway camp (something she’d been begging her Papa about for years). It just hadn’t been feasible on a dock manager’s salary, but this year they’d started a scholarship program and Alice had applied and received it, so here she was. Too bad her camp experience was being ruined by her weird sixth sense.

“Thanks!” Alice said getting up from her bunk and slipping on her worn, pink Converse.

Alice wondered if she would have the urge to avoid Hope the entire summer. That would definitely dampen the camp experience.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The change from avoidance to rivalry started over fencing of all things. Alice hadn’t known it was Hope that the director had pitted her against, as they were both wearing the required fencing masks and gear and it was impossible to tell who her opponent was. Alice had only recently started taking fencing lessons, something her Papa had wanted her to do, but she’d never been much for physical education or sports. She would have preferred archery or horseback riding (things she was happy she was getting to experience here at camp), but those were a bit expensive. The local YMCA offered fencing lessons for a low fee.

Her opponent was much better than she was. Alice had more of a hack at the other person with her sword approach rather than the correct stance. The other girl had much better form than she did and Alice could hear the frustrated sounds coming from her whenever Alice used two hands on her sword or kicked her opponent away (which Alice knew wasn’t legal, but this wasn’t a tournament and they were padded for goddess sake). At one point, Alice’s sword had been knocked out of her hands and she just lunged at the other girl. Alice knew she wasn’t playing by the rules, but she wanted to win and the fencing specialist hadn’t blown their whistle at her, so she kept on doing what she was doing. 

Eventually, Alice ended up on her back with her opponent above her after she had tried to kick her again and her opponent had grabbed her foot instead, making Alice fall to the ground. They had definitely thrown the rules out the window, especially with her adversary completely disregarding the little footwork Alice had learned and doing swishy twists and turns. Bad form as her Papa would say. So, if she wasn’t going to play by the rules, then she wouldn’t either. Alice quickly kicked her knee upward, essentially kicking her opponent in the groin (even though she knew it wouldn’t hurt nearly as badly for a girl as it would a boy), but it was enough to push her back off of her. The distraction was enough that Alice managed to get herself back on her feet and jab the tip of her sword at the other girl’s chest. The whistle finally blew and the specialist came over asking the girls to take off their fencing masks so she could declare the winner and make sure they shook hands like good sports.

To say that both Alice and Hope were in shock when they realized they’d been fencing each other was an understatement. 

“That was bad form, all that kicking you were doing.” Hope sneered at Alice.

“Me?” Alice practically screeched. “What was with all the twists and turns? Give you a leather duster and you could have been a pirate.”

“Girls,” the specialist said, trying to regain some control over the situation, “can you please just shake hands?” But both girls refused. Hope shucked off the rest of the fencing gear, threw her sword onto the ground, and huffed off while Alice actually attempted to pull her hand out of her glove for a handshake. The specialist gave a shrug to Alice and picked up the gear Hope had thrown on the ground before announcing that formal fencing lessons would be every Tuesday and Thursday during Specials time. Alice slowly took off her gear and put it in the designated bins. As much as she would enjoy fencing over the summer, running into Hope was not something she was looking forward to, so she decided to try something else to avoid her.

But it wasn’t as easy as it sounded. 

Archery had been the next special Alice wanted to try. And there was Hope, already there with her arrow nocked in her bow and an arrow practically in the bullseye. After a few tries of her own (and almost hitting Hope --accidentally-- twice), Alice realized that maybe watching archery was more fun than actually trying to shoot a bow and arrow. Especially, because Hope thought she was trying to hit her on purpose. 

“It was an accident.” Alice gritted through her teeth.

“Sure it was.” Hope huffed, swishing her ponytail behind her and storming off with two of her friends in tow. 

“God, why is she such a bitch?” Alice’s friend, Lori, asked. “Anyone can see you’re just not that coordinated.” Lori joked. “Maybe you should just stick with art.” 

“Yeah.” Said Alice sheepishly. She put the archery equipment away and headed for the art shack.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two days! It had been two days and Alice was already a thorn in her side!

“She’s like your stalker. She’s always showing up where you are.” Bianca huffed, sitting down on one of the benches in the ramada. Hope had needed to be away from the prying ears of her cabin.

“Yeah! Who does she think she is? It’s like she’s trying to be you.” Jen added in angrily, having just arrived from a trip to the Snack Shack. Even though they’d only been camp friends for the past four days, Hope, Bianca, and Jen had quickly bonded the way only 13-year-olds that had to live together could. She handed out packs of candy that she had got for them, gummy worms for herself and Bianca, and a pack of black licorice for Hope.

It was true that it seemed like wherever Hope was, Alice inevitably ended up there too. “There’s really only so many places one can go here, girls. I mean, we only have so many choices.” Hope said, opening her bag of licorice and taking a bite. She still hesitated to be around Alice, but it’s not like they could go anywhere outside of the boundary of the campgrounds. “I appreciate the sentiment though.” Hope said happy for the support. “I know it’s not rational, to dislike someone just because they look almost identical to me.” Her blue eyes looked to the ground.

“Hey, no matter what, we’ve got your back.” Bianca reminded her.

“And speaking of having your back,” Jen said, pulling out a piece of paper from her back pocket, “look at this.” She unfolded the paper and smoothed it down in front of them. It was an announcement for a dance.

“They’ve invited the boys camp from across the lake!” Jen said excitedly. The flyer announced that the dance would be in one week. “I can’t wait! I’ve never been to a dance.” She pressed the flyer to her lips and kissed it.

“Want to get a first kiss?” Bianca asked teasingly. 

“What, like you’ve been kissed?” Jen responded back not so teasingly.

“I’ve been kissed.” Hope spoke up to diffuse the situation. She was older than most of her cabinmates, her birthday being in September, only three months away, so she did have a little bit more experience than some of them. Both girls’ eyes lit up.

“What was it like?” Jen asked.

“I bet it was super romantic.” Bianca said dreamily.

Hope, laughed and then cringed. “Um, my best guy friend and I tried kissing a few weeks before school got out. We’ve been friends since fourth grade.” She blushed at the embarrassment of the memory, Bianca and Jen hanging on her every word. “It was tech week for our school play, Peter Pan. I was Peter. That’s how I know how to sword fight.” Bianca and Jen both gave Hope an exasperated look as she started going off topic. “ Sorry. Anyway, he was on backstage crew and we were outside waiting for our parents to come pick us up. I saw my mom’s car and as I went to give him a hug like I usually did, because that’s just how we are, and he kissed me.” 

Both Bianca and Jen’s eyes looked like they were going to bug out of their heads and they both had the widest grins on their faces. 

“So, how was it?” Jen asked, breaking the awkward silence of them both staring at Hope.

“Wet.” The girls laughed. “And weird. We didn’t know what we were doing. And he had braces. And, I think I can wait before getting kissed again.” The girls all dissolved into giggles. “I was really glad I was going to camp for the summer so I wouldn’t have to see him everyday. We both agreed to just stay friends.” Hope had not told her mother, even though she was bursting to. Hope knew that her mother had had bad luck with men, her father on the top of that list, and she really didn’t know how her mother would react to her having been kissed. She had confessed to Henry though. He told her he was the same age when he’d had his first kiss as well, which made her feel better about the whole thing. 

“That’s still so exciting!” Bianca said breathlessly and finished up the last of her gummy worms. “I don’t know how you can eat black licorice.” She made a face to show what she really thought of it.

“I don’t like sweet stuff.” Hope scoffed and took a large bite of licorice.

“Whatever.” Jen said, grabbing her trash and throwing it away. “Let’s get back to the cabin so we can figure out what we’re going to wear to this dance.” 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Did you hear about the dance?” Viola practically screamed as she rushed into the cabin. Alice looked up from where she’d been sketching the view from her window, not the greatest view, but Alice was trying to make her grass look more realistic and less like pencil strokes on the page.

“A dance?” Lori asked almost falling off her bunk to look at the flyer Viola had in her hands. They looked over the flyer as several other girls in the cabin also flocked over to them to peruse the flyer; all of them talking excitedly about finally getting to dress up a bit and getting to see members of the opposite sex after two weeks. This inevitably brought up the girl’s experiences with boys (not that they seemed to have a lot), a conversation that Alice felt uncomfortable with. Alice didn’t have much interest in boys yet (something she was sure her Papa was happy about). She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about them in general, let alone to do things with. She had her Papa and that’s really all she needed. That and her art. Just leave her in a beautiful location for a few hours with a sketch pad and some drawing utensils and she was happy.

“What about you, Alice?” Lori, a bushy haired girl asked after regaling the girls in the cabin with a tale of how the first guy she had kissed had also tried to cop a feel and had only discovered the tissues she’d stuffed into her bra.

“Oh, me?” Alice asked. “No kissing for me. I’m not really good with boys.” Once again, Alice was feeling like an oddball.

“Don’t worry,” said Viola, coming to sit over near Alice and taking her hand, “not all of us are boy crazy.” Viola smiled sweetly at her. Alice’s stomach nearly did a somersault.

_ Oh! _

“Thanks.” Alice said giving a shy smile back and keeping their hands clasped a little while longer before pulling it away to continue her drawing.

Alice decided she would just find a chair out on the patio and sketch during the dance, since (according the the flyer) the whole shebang was mandatory. She would have rather stayed in her cabin during the dance instead of watching her cabinmates flirt badly with the boys.

Unfortunately, the intention of finding a boy to dance with for the night that Hope had been banking on, and the quiet drawing in the corner that Alice had hoped for (and maybe talking to Viola a bit more), did not end up coming to fruition.

It had started out great. Hope, Bianca, and Jen were in their pack and had all been asked to dance by boys in their own group. Sterling had been the one to catch Hope’s eye. He seemed quiet and reserved, and upon speaking to him for a little bit, found that he was very much into science. 

“I’ve never been that good with science myself,” Hope told him sweetly when he brought up some experiment he was doing with blue lights at his camp, “but I know crime novels use blue and black lights to find blood at crime scenes.” She said hoping that she hadn’t come off as creepy. Luckily, Sterling thought it was adorable. He smiled at her and she noticed he was not wearing braces, even better.

Meanwhile, Alice had attempted to cajole Viola to come hang with her outside while she drew a picture of the lake in the moonlight. She’d brought some of her charcoal so she was making quite a mess of herself, but she wasn’t planning on doing much dancing or interacting with anyone else. “I’ll come out here later when I need a drink, okay?” Viola had said, smiling at her again. The drinks and refreshments had been set up under the patio not too far from where Alice had situated herself. She just hoped that none of the directors would notice her out here and try to make her come inside.

Alice had probably been outside all of 30 minutes when her gut started telling her something was wrong. She looked up at the sky thinking maybe rain was coming, but it was a clear, cloudless night. She looked over to the refreshment table and saw Hope talking with a boy. That must have been what set it off. She didn’t need any trouble from Hope right now, so she went back to her drawing. But it wasn’t meant to be.

After a few minutes a male voice asked her. “What are you drawing?” Alice looked up to see the boy that Hope had just been talking to looking over her shoulder at the barely started drawing.

“Um,” Alice said nervously, “just drawing the lake in the moonlight.” She looked back at the landscape in front of her determined not to continue this conversation. The last thing she needed was for Hope to have another reason to not like her just because this boy wanted to talk to her too.

She continued to draw and glanced over at the refreshment table to see a few girls she didn’t recognize hanging out and talking, when he spoke again. 

“Are you just going to ignore me all night? I thought we’d hit it off pretty well in there.” Alice closed her eyes and gave a nervous laugh. Of course he thought she was Hope. Her doppelganger must have either gone to the restroom or ditched him and now he was out here thinking she was the girl he’d been talking to all evening. 

“I’m not Hope.” she said plainly, still not looking up from her drawing. 

“Are you seriously trying to pretend you’re someone else right now?” He asked incredulously. Alice rolled her eyes at the ridiculousness of this whole situation.

“I’m not Hope. We just look alike. Tell me, how did I all of a sudden get purple streaks in my hair and have charcoal on my hands if I was with you?” She huffed. The boy opened his mouth to say something when the girl in question came out the double doors and immediately stopped at the scene in front of her.

“What the hell is going on out here?” Hope asked, hands crossing over her chest like armor. She was glaring at Alice, like the boy talking to her was her fault.

“I…, I mean…” The boy looked very confused as he turned his head looking at both girls.

“Mistaken identity. He thought I was you.” Alice said finally putting her drawing notebook and charcoal down and getting up from the chair she’d been sitting in all night. Her explanation did not seem to pacify Hope at all.

“Seriously, Sterling?” Hope walked over, the niggling in Alice’s gut getting worse. “You couldn’t tell the difference between us?” Sterling, for his part, had turned bright red and seemed quite embarrassed about the mix-up. “And you!” Hope said, swinging her body toward Alice’s. “I’m sure you didn’t have any part of this at all. I saw you out here before when we were talking. Hanging on every word.”

Alice was very confused as to what was happening now. She’d been sitting outside drawing and minding her own business. She hadn’t encouraged the boy in any way and now Hope was accusing her of intentionally, what, pretending to be her in this whole thing?” 

“Look, Hope, I didn’t…” But Alice never got to finish her sentence as she felt a stinging sensation overcome her whole face. Hope stood across from her staring at her own hand as if she couldn’t believe she’d just slapped Alice. Sterling snuck off as the gaggle of girls who’d been chatting at the refreshment table stopped to watch the scene that was unfolding. 

Alice held her hand to her face, not believing that Hope had had the audacity to slap her. And at the same moment, rage at this whole situation finally reached its boiling point, and Alice slapped Hope back, leaving a charcoal handprint across Hope’s face. Alice immediately put both hands over her mouth, horrified at what she had done.

“I’m sorry.” Alice said quickly, trying to diffuse the whole situation, but Hope 's eyes were practically black from her seething anger and she grabbed Alice’s hair and yanked her to the ground.

Alice was vaguely aware that there were screams coming from the other participants of the dance. That someone had yelled for the director, Mrs. Hatfield and the director of the boys camp. That Lori and Viola and Hope’s two friends all came out to try and convince the girls to stop fighting. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. 

As Hope dragged Alice down to the ground, Alice grabbed Hope around the knees, pulling her down to the ground as well. Hope immediately tried to gain the upper hand by straddling Alice and trying to slap her again, but Alice managed to roll her over so she was on top. They both kept rolling each other over, trying to regain the upper hand when they hit the refreshment table. More screaming abounded as the table came crashing down. Alice managed to avoid the punch from drenching her (as she happened to be on top when it came down on Hope), but Hope managed to wrench her over right as the ranch dressing came down on her face.

“Girls! Girls!” Mrs. Hatfield screamed. The director of the boys camp finally managed to pull Hope off of Alice (who now also had bits of chips in her hair), and get the two girls separated. 

Mrs. Hatfield had seen enough. “In all my years,” she said, trying to maintain some semblance of control in her voice, when all she wanted to do was rant and rave at these girls, “this has been the most revolting, the most disgusting display of hooliganism we have ever had.” Alice hung her head in shame. For once her gut had led her down the wrong path and she would have to pay the price. “And from sisters who should be leading by example…”

“We’re not sisters!” Hope exclaimed, appalled that she had been brought into this as an instigator. Mrs. Hatfield’s mouth dropped and she looked from Hope to Alice and then back to Hope again. 

“But they are, aren’t they?” Mrs. Hatfield asked the two other directors who were assessing all the food and drink that were now on the floor.

“Uh, no.” said one director with curly, red hair who looked between the two girls. “We have here, Alice Jones and Hope Swan. They just happen to look alike.” 

Mrs. Hatfield looked at both of them again as if she couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing, but then gave up on trying to figure out why they looked so much alike when they weren’t actually related. 

“You two will clean up this mess and then tomorrow you will pack your bags to move into the Get Along Cabin up the hill.” She said firmly.

“But…” Hope started to protest. She couldn’t believe she’d gotten herself into this situation. The moment she had slapped Alice she knew she’d been in the wrong, but it was like she couldn’t stop herself. Mrs. Hatfield cut her off with a look that would stop the deadliest murderer from coming anywhere near her.

“You have two hours to make this back porch spotless and then tomorrow you will have until noon to pack up your stuff. Are we clear?” She barked at them. Hope and Alice nodded. Mrs. Hatfield walked past the two sullen girls, motioned for the rest of the campers to follow her, and left the two girls on the back porch. Hope and Alice looked at each other, neither one wanting to admit that they were somewhat at fault, and began to start cleaning up what they could. Alice realized, after they cleaned the entire back porch, that her drawing notebook and charcoal must have ended up in the lake during the scuffle.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
  


Hope was determined to ignore Alice. Since they had been made to inhabit the Get Along Cabin, Hope had not said one word to her. Alice watched the first two days as Hope would get up in the morning with the camp radio station that blared into the cabin at 7AM, grab her things for a shower (their cabin boasted it’s own bathroom complete with shower, so they always had hot water and only had to share with each other, and not trek down the hill to the communal one), got ready after her shower, and headed down to the mess hall for breakfast. Alice liked to take her time in the mornings, especially since she and Hope had to also share the Get Along Table for all their meals. Luckily, they were able to join their own cabins for daily activities, but meals and free time were all spent together so they could learn to ‘get along’. Alice kept herself busy reading and rereading books she had brought with her, or drawing in another one of her notebooks. The bad gut feeling that Alice always had around Hope had calmed down immensely since they’d been made to cohabitate, and Alice, for the first time, wondered what her gut had been trying to tell her.

Hope, on the other hand, knew this whole thing was her fault but refused to admit it. She was being stubborn (like her mother). She had no idea what had compelled her to slap Alice when seeing the look on Sterling’s face told her that he had honestly mixed up the two girls. She just knew that she was so angry that a boy she kind of liked couldn’t tell the difference between them and it had really made her angry. She felt that her whole camp experience had been ruined by this girl and no amount of ‘I’m sorry’s’ were going to make up for that. Even if she needed to be the one to apologize to Alice. So she continued to ignore her instead. 

Hope had known Alice liked to draw, but she didn’t realize how much she drew and just how good she actually was. She’d been drawing the past two days any time they were in the cabin. After each picture was finished being drawn, she would carefully rip it out of the book and tape it up on the wall by her bed. Many of them seemed to be landscape drawings of a small town that boasted an old clock tower above, what Alice had mumbled, was a library. Other drawings were of people that Hope had originally assumed were in Alice’s life, but when she drew a picture of what looked like a huntress version of Snow White and Prince Charming, Hope assumed that they were either part of Alice’s imagination, or maybe video game or cartoon characters. Hope still refused to talk to Alice so she couldn’t ask her what they were all about.

On the third day of their isolation, it rained. Cold, windy rain that made the campgrounds into a giant mud pit, so everyone had to stay in their cabins after lunch. Which meant Hope and Alice were stuck with each other until either the rain stopped or dinnertime. Hope was bored out of her mind. Unlike Alice, she had not thought to bring cabin activities to do when stuck in a cabin. She figured being at camp all the entertainment was provided for you. She hadn’t counted on downtime due to a rainy day. 

It was unbearably muggy in the cabin, even though the rain brought cooler temperatures, the humidity was still clinging making Hope feel hot and sticky even though she had goosebumps. She figured opening the window a touch wouldn’t be that bad, just enough to cool the room down, or at least give her a bit of a breeze in which to lower her body temperature.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t what happened. Hope attempted to partially open the window, but it was as if it had a mind of its own and sprang open all the way. One little tug and rain and wind came pouring into the room! 

“Oh, crap!” Hope exclaimed as she tried to get the window back down. A gust of wind and a torrential downpour of rain came sweeping into the room.

“HELP!” Hope screamed as papers started getting blown around the room and her bedspread started to get soaked.

Alice had been listening to music through an old iPod (cell phones were not allowed at camp, and even if they were, the reception was probably terrible) with earbuds in her ears when she heard Hope screaming. She took a deep breath, wondering what had happened that made Hope actually want to speak to her. She looked over to see rain pouring in the window onto Hope’s bed, and her drawings being blown off the walls and getting absolutely soaked.

She immediately tore the earbuds out of her ears and ran over to help. It took both of them, but they eventually got the window down to just a crack, enough to help cool the room but not enough for the rain and wind to get in.

“Oh, no!” Hope said, looking at the mess that had befallen the room. She started picking up the drawings that had been blown off the walls. “I’m so sorry.” 

Just a few days ago Alice’s gut would’ve made her believe that Hope had done this on purpose and she would have been seething with anger. But today, today her gut was telling her Hope was being completely sincere. And why hadn’t it been doing this before. Why had she thought Hope was this horrible person after barely meeting her and over a stupid boy? She was 13 for goddess sake, she should know better than that.

“It’s okay.” Alice said, trying to save some of the pieces. She’d try and hang them over the radiator and see if they could be salvaged.

“Did you draw all these?” Hope asked, picking up one of the least wet pieces of artwork. It was one that Alice had done based off a book she’d read. It was Red Riding Hood, but retold as if she were also the wolf. Alice had drawn her with her red cloak billowing around her with a wolfish grin upon her lips. It was a stunning picture.

“Yeah. They’re based on a book I read.” Alice said not wanting to give Hope more information then she’d asked for. Their relationship was tentative at this point and her drawings were a sore spot for her when they were made fun of.

“They’re really good.” Hope said, now looking at the picture of the Evil Queen from Snow White. She definitely did not look like the Disney version, with the high ponytail and low plunging dress with bustier. “What book?” 

“Um, it’s a new series. The first book came out a year ago, the sequel should be out right when camp ends. It’s called _Once Upon a Time_.” Alice gathered the rest of her drawings up from Hope as she explained the book. When it had come out, Alice felt as if someone had reached straight into her dreams and put them on the page. She’d always loved a good alternative fairy tale, but she’d seen these characters in her mind for years. It was like the author had created these characters directly from her brain.

Hope gasped. “ _Once Upon a Time_ by Henry Mills?” She asked incredulously. Alice nodded and Hope broke out into a huge grin. “That’s my brother. He wrote it.” Alice almost dropped the pictures on the damp floor again.

“Your brother is Henry Mills, the author of the book I’m currently obsessed with?” Alice couldn’t believe it. She’d almost become mortal enemies with the sister of her most favorite author. Stupid gut feeling. “You must tell me everything you know about the sequel?” She asked, now overly excited.

“Uh, I actually haven’t read it.” Hope admitted. She wasn’t much for fairy tales. She preferred crime and mystery novels. Alice’s eyes almost bugged out of her head at her admission. 

“Your brother wrote a book and you didn’t even read it?” Alice asked, appalled. She ran over to her bed and Hope thought she might be ignoring her again, but then she realized she was searching through her belongings.”Ah ha!” she exclaimed when she found what she was looking for. It was a copy of Henry’s book with a brown cover that was supposed to mimic leather with gold lettering.

“Isn’t your last name Swan?” Alice asked as she brought the book over to Hope.

“Pen name.” Hope said, shrugging. She opened the book to the table of contents. She knew it was a book of fairy tales, that much Henry had told her, but Hope preferred reality to fantasy. Something she definitely picked up from her mother. Give her a good crime drama any day over a sappy Disney movie. The first chapter was entitled Wanted: Snow White for Crimes Against the Queen: Murder, Treason, Treachery. Well that was definitely different from the Disney version. The second chapter was titled A Wolf in Red Clothing, the third simply Elf Tonic.

Hope turned the page to the first chapter to see a wanted poster illustrating the chapter title. It was a pencil drawing of Snow White on a wanted poster with her crimes listed below her face. The drawing looked slightly familiar to Hope. Something about the chin, she couldn’t put her finger on it. Henry probably had it around his apartment when he was in the development stages and she’d seen it there and forgotten. But it tickled at her brain.

“They don’t seem to be your typical fairy tale fare do they?” Hope said flipping through to see other pencil drawn illustrations throughout the book.

“They are so much better. No damsels in distress in need of rescuing by a big strong prince, lots of women power and what not. Characters popping in and out of other fairy tale’s stories, and earned True Love’s Kiss. Your brother has a very vivid imagination!” Alice said excitedly.

“What’s this?” Hope asked, flipping to the final picture in the book, a baby being put into what looked like a tree with the name Emma on her baby blanket.

“It’s the whole impetus for the next book! What happens to Emma in the Land Without Magic after her father saved her from the Evil Queen’s curse to make everyone unhappy forever. She’s supposed to be the Savior and bring back the happy endings!” Hope ran her fingers over the picture, almost as if she were looking at a memory, rather than a fictional drawing.

“Our mother’s name is Emma.” Hope said pensively. “I didn’t realize Henry named a character after her. She’s amazing. Raised both of us without a dad. I guess he was in our lives for a little bit, considering the age difference between me and Henry, but he died when I was two, so it’s just been us and her for pretty much my whole life. She didn’t grow up with any family, so I guess it’s fitting...” Hope said wistfully, her heart suddenly so thankful that Henry decided to name a character in his book after their mother and make her the hero she always felt she was. “What about you, Alice? What’s your mother like?” Hope asked, wanting to take the spotlight off of her.

The smile that had been on Alice’s face vanished. She didn’t necessarily look sad, just void of emotion. “I don’t have a mother, just me and my Papa. My mother also died when I was two.” She took the book back from Hope, closed it, then sat to face Hope. “That’s weird, right? That both of us lost a parent when we were two?” Alice looked at Hope expectantly, waiting for something more from her, but she just looked down at the ground. 

“There was a fire at our apartment. Papa got me out, Mama wasn’t so lucky. After that we moved out of Boston to the country. He still works in the city though, he just wanted something better for us and he didn’t want reminders of my mother all over the place. I don’t even have any pictures of her, something about them getting all burned up in the fire. I’m not sure why they didn’t have any in the Cloud or Google Photos or whatever. The only picture I’ve ever seen of my mother is a pencil sketch my Papa did when they first met.” Alice set her head back against Hope’s bed frame where they’d been sitting down on the floor. She glanced over at Hope who was looking over at her with wide eyes. “What?” Alice said, concerned.

“My father died in a fire too.” Hope barely whispered. “Mom got me and Henry out, but she couldn’t get back in for him. And the only pictures I’ve seen of him are from when he and my mom originally met, before he left her the first time. Somehow, all our pictures were lost in the fire, which, like you said, makes no sense seeing as we all have computers and smart phones and what not.” It was Alice who now had wide eyes when Hope looked over at her. “Don’t you think that’s weird?” Hope continued, “That we look alike and that we both lost a parent in a fire and that we have barely any pictures of the other parent. What’s your dad’s name?” Hope asked, all sense of pretense going out the window. She suddenly felt like they could be connected somehow. This overwhelming heaviness had invaded her body and she needed answers that could make it go away. There was no way they had this much in common without there being something connecting them.

“Killian Jones.” Alice answered immediately, because her gut was going crazy, practically pushing her to find these answers. “And your mother?”

“Emma Swan.” Hope replied. They sat in silence, not sure where to go from there. The answers hadn’t brought any huge revelation. Neither name meant anything to the other.

“When’s your birthday?” Alice asked. “Mine is September 27th.” If they had the same birthday that could still mean something. Maybe the reason for no photographs had been because of something else.

“September 28th.” Hope said. They both deflated a little. Until…

“What time were you born, Hope? I was born at 9:07 at night. I know because Papa always reminds me that it was the beginning of this huge lunar eclipse that also happened to fall on the Harvest Moon that year and it was called the Super Moon, so he used to call me his Super Harvest Baby.” Alice smiled at the memory. She looked over at Hope whose mouth was practically on the ground.

“I was born at 12:27, right when it ended. My mom also used to call me her Super Harvest Baby.” Hope paused as if she were thinking of the next thing to say. “This can’t be a coincidence. I...I,” She paused again, trying to get the right words out. “I think we might be twins, just born on either side of midnight.” Hope struggled to get the words out, her eyes now filling with tears at the prospect that she might not only have a sister she didn’t know about, but a twin sister at that.

The two girls stared at each other for a while, not sure what to do with the information that they both felt was the truth. Hope had felt the weight that had been pressing on her lift the moment she had suggested they were twins. Alice’s gut had stopped sending her warning signals too. They both felt this had to be true, they just couldn’t figure out how it could be true.

“Do you think we were separated somehow? Maybe our mother and father adopted us and we’re not biologically theirs?” Alice wondered aloud.

“No. I’m the spitting image of my mom, and so are you I suppose, just with blue eyes instead of green. And my dad had brown eyes, so I know they didn’t come from him.” Hope said, disputing Alice’s theory right off the bat.

“But my I have my dad’s blue eyes, which would also mean you do too.” Alice contemplated.

“Maybe they lied to us about the fire. It seems awfully convenient now that our other parent is dead and all the pictures of us with that parent disappeared.” Alice said grimly. She really didn’t like the thought of her Papa lying to her about something that important, but it seemed the only logical conclusion at the moment.

“Henry!” Hope all but yelled in Alice’s face. Alice looked at her confused. “Henry! He was 15 when I was born. Certainly he would know the whole story. Hopefully, he would tell me the whole story.” She suddenly looked concerned. “We need to talk to him somehow. I don’t want to freak him out in a letter, which means I somehow need to call him.” She started pacing the cabin. “But the directors won’t let us use phones. Even if we were in better standing than we currently were.” Hope said, getting more and more distressed. 

“I think I can help you with that part.” Alice announced as her face widened into a huge smile.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was lunch time the next day before Alice finally clued in Hope as to what she meant. Since they were in the Get Along Cabin, they were also forced to eat lunch at their own table away from the rest of the cabins. But Alice’s friend, Lori, from her former cabin, had managed to sneak a cell phone into camp and was using that to get money, food, and other sundries from her cabin mates.

Alice walked by her former cabin after receiving her lunch in line and gave a series of knocks on the table as she walked by. That was apparently the signal to let Lori know that she was interested in using the phone. Alice continued walking to the table she and Hope shared to eat lunch.

“That’s it?” Hope asked, having watched Alice give the signal.

“Yes. She’ll get in touch with us at some point today. You better have some money ready for her or she won’t give us anything.” Alice said, taking a bite of her sandwich which looked to her to be just orange marmalade and bread. Hope grimaced.

“What, it’s good.” Alice said, defending her sandwich choices.

They didn’t hear from Lori until after lights out that night. Hope’s anxiety was getting the best of her, convinced that her mother had been lying to her about her father her whole life. Alice was taking it more in stride, as she didn’t get flustered easily. That and her gut didn’t seem to sense that her father had ever lied to her, which made things more confusing.

A series of knocks, similar to the ones Alice had tapped on Lori’s table earlier that day, sounded from the other side of the door. Alice knocked back before letting Lori in. Hope rolled her eyes over the whole spy scenario they had going on.

After the door closed, Alice finally spoke. “Hope needs to make a phone call.” Lori looked at Hope, only knowing that she was the rival of her friend.

“Why should I help her?” Lori asked scrutinizing Hope who sat on her bed practically ignoring the whole conversation. “She doesn’t even look like she wants my help.”

“I do want your help.” Hope said with a sigh. “I need to call my brother. It’s an emergency and it concerns both myself and Alice, so name me your price so we can just get this over with, please.” 

Lori arched a bushy eyebrow at Alice who nodded in agreement. “20 bucks.” she said simply.

“20 bucks for a phone call?” Hope asked incredulously, but this phone call was important and she really needed to talk to Henry.

“Hey, you took way more than that playing poker the other night.” Lori retaliated. Hope sighed. Lori was right. She’d walked away with at least $40 in quarters and ones. Hope walked over to her bed and pulled out a small box from under it and grabbed twenty ones. She stood up and walked back over to Lori and gave her the money. Lori made a big show of counting the money out before handing the phone over to Hope. 

Hope dialed the number for Henry’s phone, thankful that she’d had his cell phone number memorized since she was six in case of emergencies, and praying that he answered even though it would come up as an unknown number. Surprisingly, he answered on the first ring.

“Hello?” Came the voice of her brother from the other side of the line.

“Oh, Henry, thank goodness. It’s Hope.” She said relieved.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at camp?” He asked, and then, “Are you alright? Do I need to come rescue you?” Big Brother Henry, always looking out for Little Sister.

“No, everything’s fine. Or, well….I don’t really know how to explain it.” She paused trying to get her bearings. Alice had distracted Lori from listening in by showing Lori her newest drawings that she’d done since moving into the Get Along Cabin. It seemed that Lori was a big fan of Alice’s artwork. Hope took a deep breath, “Um, there’s a girl here, who looks almost, well no, she is, identical to me. Her name is Alice.” She paused trying to see if she could hear any type of reaction from Henry, but there was nothing but the sound of his breathing on the other end. “Anyway, we have some questions, and, well, I thought you might be able to answer them.”

Henry remained silent for so long that Hope almost had to check the phone to see if they were still connected. After what seemed like forever, she heard Henry sigh.

“Do you have a day when your camp goes into town that I could possibly meet you?” He asked, and then, “Meet you and Alice?” 

Hope looked over at the camp calendar that showed all the outings the camp would take during the six weeks. Sure enough, there was a town day coming up in two days. Hope told Henry this and they made plans to meet at a small coffee shop that Henry found through Google Maps.

“Do you know who she is, Henry? Do you know anything about what is going on?” Hope asked, her voice sounding really small.

Again, a resounding silence on Henry’s side. Hope could almost see him warring with himself whether to tell her anything or wait until he saw her in two days, and then she heard him sigh. The sigh she recognized as the Little Sister had won sigh.

“She’s your sister. You and Alice are twins.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is part two of my CSSNS story. Let's see what Emma and Killian are up to, shall we?
> 
> As usual, thanks to my wonderful beta's. I could not have written this without them.

Emma eased open the door to her apartment, her shoulder aching as she did. Her stupid skip had tried to run and had rammed her right into a brick wall. She’d broken his nose for that stunt. She just wanted to get inside, get a bag of ice for her shoulder, pop open a beer, and watch Netflix.

She was still getting used to the silence of the apartment now that Hope was at camp. It had only been two weeks, but it still felt like she was walking into a tomb when she came in the door. She honestly couldn’t remember a time when it had been so quiet. It was either Henry or Hope who was always making some kind of sound; whether it was watching television, talking on the phone, or laughing at something online. Heck, Emma would even take when Henry used to pretend to chase Hope around the apartment just to listen to her baby shrieks (even if it did annoy Mrs. Pendergast next door, God rest her soul). Maybe she’d give Henry a call later just to see what he was up to.

Emma closed the door behind her, locked it, and kicked off her heels before heading over to the freezer to grab an ice pack. It was still weird to her sometimes that Henry didn’t live there anymore, but he was 28, too old to live with his mother and teenage sister. He’d stuck around much longer than she expected him to anyway, not moving out until he was almost 25 and had got his first book deal. She was incredibly proud of him for that. 

The ice pack was cool against Emma’s skin, as she had worn her tried and true black tank dress which made her skin look almost porcelain and her blonde hair almost gold, a look that many of her skips went for. She could already see the bruise that was starting to form. Luckily, the dress was still intact. Luckily, the dress still fit her at the age of 45 and she still had her figure. Luckily, she still looked young enough to entice men off the internet for a date that were Henry’s age who had skipped their bail. Her face didn’t have too many wrinkles, and her hair was still a lovely blonde color and she didn’t need to color it yet. Her feet weren’t too happy with her though, having had to chase him down in the 4 inch heels. She was finally beginning to believe she might be too old for this shit (as Murtaugh used to say. God, how old was that movie? Now she really felt old.). Her boss didn’t like her using the honeytrap ruse anymore. Emma thought it might also be because he had a crush on her and he got a bit jealous, but maybe she would take him up on the offer to just work on the research end of tracing bail jumpers and leaving the trapping and chasing of skips to her younger coworkers.

She opened her fridge and grabbed a beer with a twist off cap, just easier in the long run, before heading into her bedroom (ice pack in one hand, beer in the other) to change into sleep shorts and a tank top. As she set down the beer and ice pack on her dresser, she remembered that she hadn’t checked her phone since calling the police to pick up her skip. He’d been cursing at her the whole time after she’d handcuffed him to a bike rack. He’d called her a bitch and a cunt, told her where she could shove a few things, and then detailed what he would do to her if he ever found her again. He talked pretty big for someone who was wanted for embezzling. Emma had learned a long time ago not to engage once the cops were on the way. It only led to injuries she couldn’t always explain on someone who was cuffed and couldn’t fight back.

Emma quickly changed into sleepwear, fixed the ice pack onto her shoulder with some medical tape, and got on top of the covers, ready to watch some of her favorite old tv series. Once comfortable, she finally checked her phone and was shocked to see there were several voicemails. One was from Henry, but the others were from numbers she didn’t recognize. 

Grabbing the notepad and pen off the nightstand where she always kept them in case a call came in about a skip, Emma pressed the play button for the first voicemail on her phone and put it on speaker so she could write down whatever she needed to with ease. 

_ “Ms Swan, this is Director Hatfield from Camp Evergreen.”  _ Emma’s heart instantly seized. She could not think of a single reason the director of Hope’s sleepaway camp would call her that wasn’t bad news.  _ “I am, unfortunately, calling with bad news.”  _ There was a pause, what seemed like the longest pauses in the history of pauses ever after someone told you they had bad news. Who taught this lady how to deliver bad news? She’d barely said two sentences and Emma was about to tear her hair out in anticipation.  _ “At this time we are unable to locate your daughter, Hope Swan.”  _ Panic gripped Emma, her whole body tensing up. What the hell did that mean they couldn’t locate her daughter!  _ “We went into town today, something we do once a week for the older campers, she failed to meet us at the designated time an hour ago. Please know that she could not have gone far and we have the local authorities searching for her. I don’t want you to worry. Here is my personal cell number for you to call me when you receive this. Thank you.” _ Emma quickly wrote down the cell number and listened back to the message again. Her heart was practically in her throat in fear and her jaw was clenched so hard in anger that she thought she might break a tooth. How dare this woman tell her not to worry when her daughter was missing. How could Hope be missing? How could someone lose her pride and joy? Her little girl. Before she could really work herself up, Emma remembered there were several other messages. She prayed one of them was telling her that Hope had been found.

_ “Ms Swan, this is Director Hatfield from Camp Evergreen again. It’s been two hours since Hope was supposed to meet us and we still haven’t found her. The authorities have been searching the area and I’m sure you will be getting a phone call from them as well. Please know that we are doing everything we can to find her. I’m still confident that she must still be in the area and just lost track of the time. I will continue to update you on her whereabouts. Once again, here is my personal cell phone number. Thank you.”  _ Emma checked the times the messages were left. The first had been at 6PM, right when she had arrived for her date, the second exactly an hour later at 7PM, a little before the time she’d gotten rammed into the wall by her skip. She’d remembered hearing a church bell ring down the street signaling the time. 

The next message was from a different number received at 7:15.

_ “Ms Swan, this is Chief Mike Donnelly from the Evergreen Police Department. Ms Hatfield has informed me about the disappearance of two girls, one of whom is your daughter.” _ Two girls! Emma paused the voicemail trying to collect her thoughts. Had Hope and another girl run off together? Emma’s mind was racing. If it was just Hope gone Emma figured she had just lost track of the time, even though Hope never lost track of the time. Hope was always punctual, but Emma had figured there was always a first time for everything. She was almost 14 and teenagers weren’t the most reliable people, even though Hope was one of the most punctual people Emma had ever known. She sometimes used to joke about where the punctuality genes had come from since neither she nor Neal were ever on time for anything. But there were two missing girls. There was now another factor. Had this other girl convinced Hope to run away from camp? Was there something between the two of them that they felt the need to run away? Had the other girl taken Hope by force? Emma didn’t think they could have got far seeing as they were on Cape Cod. So many questions were swarming around in Emma’s head. She pressed play.  _ “We are on the lookout for both girls, but if you could please give me a call back right away so we could go over some details to help us out that would be greatly appreciated. Here is the station’s number and please ask for Chief Donnelly. Thank you.” _ Emma quickly added the chief’s number to her notepad trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

The last message was from Henry. Emma debated whether to listen to his message or not. It couldn’t nearly be as important as calling back the chief or the director of the camp, but something compelled her to listen to Henry’s call anyway. The voicemail had come in about a half an hour after the sheriff had left his message.

_ “Hi mom.”  _ Henry began and Emma’s skin prickled immediately. She could already tell by the tone of his voice that he had something to tell her that she wasn’t going to like.  _ “I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Hope is missing from camp and the reason I know that is because she’s with me.”  _ Emma was positively going to kill Henry. She was going to murder him. What the hell was he thinking taking Hope from camp without permission.  _ “And if they’ve mentioned that there’s another girl missing, well,” _ Henry gave a large sigh,  _ “I have Alice too.” _ Oh shit! This was worse than she’d thought. It would have been easy to explain taking his sister without permission, but now he’d taken another girl? What the hell had Henry been thinking? _ “Please don’t send the cops after us. There is a perfectly valid explanation for this, just not one I can give over the phone.” _ Emma highly doubted that. _ “I’m going to need you to contact the other girl’s father and convince him not to press kidnapping charges. I know that’s a lot to ask, but I promise I can explain everything once you two meet us at Chantey’s Lobster House in Maine. Once again, mom, please don’t send the cops. Just get a hold of Killian Jones and bring him with you to the Lobster House. Here’s his number. And mom…. I love you.” _

Emma stared at the phone as if willing it to tell her more. What the hell had Henry gotten himself into? What did Hope have to do with it? What did this other girl have to do with it? Emma couldn’t see any way this was going to end well. And now she had to contact this girl, Alice’s father? What was he going to think when the mother of the man who kidnapped his daughter called him up and told him not to worry and they had to go to some lobster house in Maine?

Emma quickly jotted down the number and tried to think of a way to justify what Henry had done when she talked to this Killian Jones. But first, she had to play the concerned parent and call back the chief and the director before she murdered her own kid.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Killian Jones was absolutely beside himself. After several phone calls from the director of the camp Alice had gone to and then a call from the chief of police, it seemed they were nowhere nearer to finding his daughter. He couldn’t lose her. He just couldn’t. She was all he had left after Milah. He couldn’t lose her too. The gods wouldn’t be so cruel, would they? All he could do now was wait by his phone for someone to contact him.

There was nothing he could do in his small house that could distract him from the fact that Alice was missing. She was all around him. Photos lined the hallway and every available flat surface of their two bedroom house. He’d missed her fiercely since she left for camp almost two weeks ago, having never been apart for more than an overnight sleepover. Killian hadn’t been that keen on Alice going to sleepaway camp for six weeks, but she had been so excited to go, having secured herself a scholarship all on her own (sneaking into his financials after he’d gone to bed and copying his tax forms to send, modern day pirate she was), that he just couldn’t deny her. Having just been the two of them for so long, he was already having trouble adjusting, but now that she was missing it was like his heart had been ripped from his chest. Never, in his 49 years, had he ever remembered feeling like this.

He subconsciously ran his fingers through his graying hair (silver, Alice called it), while he tapped his false hand on his leg, a nervous habit he’d picked up when Alice was a child. It had been two hours since the last phone call from Chief Donnelly and Killian wasn’t expecting another phone call from him that night. He couldn’t possibly think what had happened to Alice. He knew she was a little flighty, but he couldn’t imagine that she would purposely leave camp on her volition. Not with the way she’d been so excited to go. Unless something had happened.

Suddenly, Killian remembered that he’d received a letter in the mail from Alice, but he hadn’t actually opened anything as he had checked the mailbox while checking his messages. He had almost forgotten that he’d received the letter.

Quickly, Killian ran over to the kitchen counter where he’d dropped the mail and sorted through the bills and junk mail that had also been in the mailbox. He finally spotted it. The pale blue envelope from the stationary that Alice had insisted on buying for camp so she could ‘write him a letter a day’. While he hadn’t received a letter a day, he had received at least four in the time she’d been at camp, this would make the sixth. He hurriedly ripped open the letter.

“Ow!” he said as he stuck the now cut finger in his mouth. He pulled out the letter to see Alice’s swirly script, very similar to his own. He hoped this letter gave some insight into her disappearance.

_ Dear Papa, _

_ I am sorry it’s been awhile since I’ve written. I know I said I’d write a letter a day, but a lot has been happening.  _

_ Hope and I really got into it yesterday. We’ve been secluded from the rest of the camp. We’ve been put in the Get Along Cabin in order for us to get along. Neither one of us is happy about it. But it is what it is. I’m not even sure how it got so far that we ended up in this situation, Papa. It’s like we were magnets that just couldn’t be near each other and the closer we got the more we wanted to repel the other and it just got completely out of hand. I hope you are not too disappointed in my behavior. I’ve felt really bad about everything since we’ve been placed in solitude. Hopefully, we will work things out with no outside interference. _

_ I hope you aren’t too lonely without me there, Papa. I miss you and can’t wait to come home in a few weeks. _

_ Love, _

_ Alice (your Starfish) _

Killian’s eyes brimmed with tears. There was nothing in the letter to indicate why she had run off or been taken. Could it have something to do with this Hope girl she wasn’t getting along with. Alice may be a little unusual, but she usually got along with her peers with no problems. He recalled that Alice had mentioned that she and Hope looked very similar in one of her previous letters. Had whomever taken her thought she was Hope? Had they taken both her and Hope because they weren’t sure which was which? Was Hope the other girl who was missing?

Killian had no idea how he was going to try and sleep with his daughter missing. It turns out, he didn’t. He tried, he really did, but all he ended up doing was tossing and turning and randomly checking his phone, even though it was plugged in and the sound was on so he’d hear if someone called him. Finally, when he saw the sun barely starting to peek through the curtains, he gave up. He checked his phone again, cursed that there were no new notices, and decided his best course of action was to take a shower and wait until he was contacted. He’d never taken one the previous day, and he was sure he still smelled like fish after having worked at the fish cannery all day, even if he was a floor manager, and didn’t work directly with the fish anymore. Which also reminded him that he would need to call out of work. He’d never be able to concentrate with Alice missing.

After calling work and a ‘sorry’, ‘take all the time you need’, and ‘keep us updated’ from his boss, Killian started to head to the bathroom to take a shower when he heard a soft knocking on his door. It was 6:15 in the morning and he couldn’t imagine who would be paying a visit this early. His heart skipped a beat when he realized it had to be about Alice. Maybe they’d contacted local law enforcement to take a statement from him, or canvas their house for clues. He forgot that he was still in his blue plaid sleep pants and graying white undershirt when he answered the door to find a nervous looking, but extremely gorgeous blonde woman standing on his front porch. 

“Can I help you?” Killian asked warily. Her eyes darted around nervously, and she was wringing her hands together. She kept opening her mouth to speak and then closing it, as if she couldn’t think of the right words. Killian started to get annoyed. He crossed his arms and looked at her sternly.

“Look, ma’am, if you’re here selling something I’m not in the mood.” 

“No, I…” The woman took a deep breath and started again. “I’ve been trying to figure out what to say to you all night. My name is Emma Swan and I know where your daughter is.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Emma was not sure what she expected when Killian Jones opened the door, but she definitely did not expect for her heart to immediately start fluttering and her stomach to fill with butterflies. She chalked it up to having to tell him that her son had effectively kidnapped his daughter, not because he was devastatingly handsome, with piercing blue eyes and silver streaks threaded through his dark brown hair. She really needed to focus on the task at hand.

His eyebrows had both raised into his hairline and Emma thought she saw tears in his eyes. She recognized the look of hope in his face, and then, just as quickly his face became very strained, his eyes tiny slits, and the color of his face went from nicely tanned to practically purple.

“Is this some kind of sick joke?” he practically yelled into her face. “Did Donny send you to mess with me, because that’s really low, even for him.” 

Emma flinched, afraid that he might even hit her. This was not the reaction she had hoped for. And it kind of pissed her off that he thought she was joking with him. 

“Um, no,” Emma said shortly. “My name is Emma Swan, my daughter is Hope Swan.” She saw a spark of recognition in his eyes when she mentioned her daughter’s name. Good, that was good. “I believe… no,” she stopped and corrected herself. “I know that our daughters have run away from camp together.”

His face immediately changed back to the face of hope Emma had seen when she’d first mentioned knowing where Alice was. The purple slowly drained away, leaving his face a more normal shade. 

“Look, I don’t know a lot of details Mr. Jones.” Emma wasn’t sure why, but it felt really weird to call him that. Her instincts were telling her that Mr. Jones was the wrong thing to call him, but until he said otherwise, she was going to keep this professional. “All I know is that they’re with my son, Henry.” She saw him raise one eyebrow and lick his lips, which in any other circumstance she was sure would be sexy as hell, but right now, it was plain intimidating. “I have no idea why he has taken it upon himself to take them away from camp,” she said quickly, “or what the circumstances behind this whole adventure is. All I know is that he called me, told me he had his sister and your daughter, and that I had to find you and meet them at a crabhouse in Maine.” She looked up at him, sure that he was going to think this was all a sick joke again, but instead she saw him open the door wider.

“Please come in.” He was watching her like a hawk, looking for some sign that she wasn’t who she said she was, and that this was all a colossal joke on his behalf. Usually, he read people pretty well. Friends had said he probably should’ve gone into law enforcement or become a lawyer with the way he was able to just look at a person and know all about them. It’s what made him a good manager as well. It helped him spot good people to hire whether they had the experience or not. He’d rather have people who had motivation to work rather than people just there for a paycheck. Made for much more productive workers. A gorgeous woman like her should be walking with confidence, not slack shoulders, not with the slight curve in her back, and her emerald eyes should definitely not be searching his to find the same meaning and understanding about what was happening. The whole thing unnerved him quite a bit.

“Take a seat while I change into something more, er, presentable, and then I’ll get some coffee started while we sort this whole mess out,” Killian said, pointing with his hand toward the couch in the other room. Emma nodded.

It was every parent’s worst nightmare, Killian thought as he pulled on fresh boxers and jeans, to be told that your child was missing and to find out she had run away on her own accord. Or had she? Killian couldn’t help but think that from the last letter Alice had sent that she wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere near this girl. What had possessed her to run off with her? He finished getting dressed quickly (realizing only too late that he had dressed himself completely in black, including black leather glove on his prosthetic hand) before heading back out towards the kitchen to get the promised coffee started. It was once he pressed the on switch that he heard the crying coming from the other room.

He came around the corner to see her holding a picture of him and Alice. He knew exactly which photo it was. It was Alice at the harbor last summer. They’d gone down to check something at his office before heading to the actual beach, but Alice had insisted on an impromptu photo shoot because of the way the shadows were hitting the docks. She looked almost as if she were caught in a spider’s web the way the shadows of the masts from some of the sailboats were hitting her. It was an absolutely stunning picture, but he wasn’t sure if it should evoke the tears that were pouring down Emma Swan’s face. He could tell that tears did not come easily to this woman.

Her tears were interrupted by the beeping of the coffee maker. Emma looked up to see him staring at her, which made her immediately wipe her tears off on her sleeve, and the little bit of the real Emma Swan that he had seen was now blocked by walls a mile high. She promptly straightened her shoulders and flicked her hair behind her back.

“How do you have this picture?” she asked in an accusing tone. The change was astounding, Killian thought. It was almost as if she was a completely different person. And now he was getting angry. Who the hell was this woman coming into **_his_** house, telling him that **_her_** son had kidnapped ** _his_** daughter, and now was accusing him of, he wasn’t sure what exactly, but it was definitely an accusation of some sort.

“That,” Killian said, plucking the picture from her hands and placing it back down on the side table in its proper place, “is my Alice, so that is why I have that picture. As you can see, there are plenty of pictures of her around this house.” A look of shock crossed Emma’s face, but Killian stomped back into the kitchen, grabbed two mugs from the cabinets in his good hand, and poured a cup of coffee for himself and his guest. He automatically poured in a good amount of sugar before he realized what he was doing and was about to offer her the black coffee, when she took the over-sugared coffee from him and took a sip. She smiled, apparently satisfied with it. She looked back over at the picture and then looked at the other pictures that were around her, her eyes getting very big. Eventually, and with a bit of anger, she opened her purse, took out her wallet, grabbed something out of it and threw it on the counter.

“Care to explain this?” she asked heatedly.

Killian took the item to see an almost identical picture of who he assumed was Hope in the shadows. He could tell it wasn’t the same picture, the shadows were all wrong and the girl in this photo had her hair pulled back into a ponytail, plus, she was dressed in a way that Alice would never dress, but Killian could see why Emma had possibly mistaken her Hope for his Alice. And this revelation made him even more upset because she was looking at him like he had somehow invaded her life because of the similarities between their daughters.

“Look, Mrs. Swan,” Killian said curtly, “I’m sure that…”

“It’s Miss,” Emma said, even more irritated.

“What?” Killian asked, his blue eyes flashing.

“It’s Miss Emma Swan, not Mrs. Swan. I never married Henry and Hope’s father.” And why Emma felt the need to reveal that last part was beyond her. It’s not like she needed to defend her choices to this man. But something about him made her want to tell him all her secrets, even if they had only just met, so she added, “I didn’t trust Neal enough to marry him. He left me in a bad way after Henry and he only came back into our lives when Henry was 11. I didn’t want to let him back in, but I did, and then Hope came along.” God, why was she just vomiting her whole life story to this man?

“But he left you anyway?” Killian asked seeing as there was no way Hope’s father wouldn’t be here with his daughter missing.

“He died,” Emma said softly. “Apartment fire when Hope was two. It’s why we ended up moving to Boston. We’d been living in New York before.” Killian’s ears perked at the mention of an apartment fire.

“Same with Alice’s mother. Apartment fire when she was two. It’s also how I lost the hand.” He lifted the gloved hand and got a little bit of recognition from Emma that she hadn’t realized until this moment that he was missing the hand. “What are the odds?” Killian wondered aloud as he thought of Milah and how he’d tried to get her and their young daughter out of their apartment, but the smoke had become too much for her and she’d collapsed halfway down the stairs. He thought they’d been safe then, firemen coming up the stairs to help. He’d handed Alice over to one of the firemen when the roof above caved in, effectively trapping Milah under it and severing his hand in the process. If it hadn’t been for Alice, he wasn’t sure if he would have had the strength to move on. “We were in Boston. I decided, even though I worked at the docks, we needed to be away from the city. That’s how we ended up on the outskirts. It sucks to drive an hour away for work, but we have this little house, and a yard, and everything Milah and I had dreamed of for Alice.” He put his hand over hers as a comforting gesture. Emma initially tried to pull her hand away, but she recognized the gesture for what it was and relaxed into it. 

“Hope and Henry are the two best things to happen to me, even if their father was a bastard. I don’t know how I ended up with two great kids like them. I just don’t understand what Henry was thinking, taking our daughters with him on this insane adventure. It’s one thing for him to have stolen off with Hope, but to take your daughter as well. I can’t even begin to know what was going through all of their heads.” Emma fought the tears that were welling up in her eyes. This was not the way she’d raised her children. 

‘I’m sorry for practically accusing you… I don’t even know what I was accusing you of,” Emma said looking around the house at all the pictures of Alice. “It’s, just, they’re practically identical, don’t you think?” Killian nodded in agreement. “It just seems so weird, that’s all. And when I saw the picture of Alice, so similar to the one of Hope, it just felt like you were involved in this whole thing somehow.”

“Look, Swan.” Killian didn’t know why he decided to just go the last name route, probably because he didn’t want to get back into a semantics argument with her, but something about just calling her Swan sounded right to his ears and felt correct in his mouth. “Why don’t you tell me everything your son, Henry was it, told you and we can go from there?” She certainly didn’t seem like the type of woman to have raised a son that would kidnap people for nefarious purposes.

Emma pulled out her phone and cued up the voicemail. They listened to it together. Emma closed her eyes and wet her lips while they listened to it. Killian felt the stirring of something in his lower extremities and he almost had to pinch himself. This was not the time to be aroused by a beautiful woman in his house, especially when the look on her face was not one of seduction (although he’s sure the way she was concentrating with that little crease between her eyes was extremely sexy when in the bedroom), but of hoping to the gods that her son’s voicemail would end on any note other than I’m with my sister and another girl, meet us at a lobster house in Maine.

Killian requested listening to it a few more times before he was satisfied that the voicemail was not some type of hoax from Emma’s son, nor was it a real kidnapping requiring some kind of ransom.

“And you have no idea what possessed him to do this?” Killian asked Emma who shrunk further and further behind her walls everytime she listened to her son’s voice telling them he had the girls.

“Not a clue!” she said rather defensively. “I raised him better than that. I mean, I wouldn’t say this is technically kidnapping. I mean, I don’t know Alice, but I feel like they both went with him willingly. I just don’t understand why! This could kill his career.” She stopped, eyes blown wide. “Oh, god! What if this is all some publicity stunt?” Killian questioningly raised an eyebrow.  _ God dammit was that sexy. No, focus Emma, focus.  _ “Henry is an author, and his next book, the sequel to a very successful first book, comes out next month.” Emma explained. “I don’t know how this would tie into it, but that’s the only plausible reason I can come up with for him to do something like this,” Emma said, exasperated.

“Does your son write some type of crime novels?” Killian asked, not understanding how this could be a publicity stunt.

“No. He writes fantasy. He writes alternative fairy tales. So I have no idea how this would fit in. But I know that if this isn’t a publicity stunt that his career would be ruined if you charged him with kidnapping,” Emma lamented.

Something about what Emma had said about Henry’s book struck a chord with Killian. What was it? Alternative fairy tales, the name Henry. Killian knew the book Emma was talking about. The book Alice had been obsessed with for over the past year. Her art had completely changed from drawing landscapes to drawing characters from that book.

“Wait! Is the book you’re talking about titled  _ Once Upon a Time _ ?” Killian asked incredulously. Emma just nodded, pulling nervously on the ends of her hair. Killian paced up and down the room thinking. Could Alice have orchestrated this whole thing? Killian knew she was a huge fan of the book. Maybe she found out he and Hope were siblings and somehow arranged a meeting during their town day? And how coincidental that Alice’s favorite book author would have a sister that looked identical to her.

“I think we may have solved at least one riddle here. That is Alice’s favorite book. She’s almost bordering on obsessive. I think she would definitely, willingly go anywhere with Henry if he asked, especially if it was with her bunkmate at camp.” Killian sat down on the couch next to Emma and took her hands in his, putting his good hand on top. “I don’t think this is your fault, Emma. I don’t think you raised a psychopath, or that Alice was kidnapped either.” Emma looked visibly relieved at this admission. “But I do think that you need to call Henry and find out when to meet him so we can find out what the fuck is going on and why they’re in Maine of all places.” 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks once again to my betas, profdanglais and recoveringthesatellites! This chapter was a bitch to write and they got me through it. Don't forget to check out gingerchangeling's art on my Tumblr page.

The next two days felt like torture for both Hope and Alice. They had been told by the directors that they were lucky to be allowed to go into town and that they’d better behave themselves as they were representing the camp, to which Hope and Alice solemnly nodded. Henry had sent a text through Lori’s phone (another extra dollar to deliver the message) to meet at a coffee house in town at 11:00 to which Hope replied that she and Alice would be there (another dollar to text back).

Hope had told Alice that Henry had confirmed they were sisters but nothing else, citing that this wasn’t something he could tell them over the phone. 

“Maybe they both got amnesia and only remembered the last relationship they’d been in and that’s why they think our other parent is different?” Alice had suggested. Hope had thought that could be a possibility but then…

“But what about the fire? Or is that where the amnesia came from?” 

“Could be?” Alice said. “Maybe they both got amnesia from the fire and forgot the other and we just went with whichever one saved us.”

“But that doesn’t explain Henry.” Hope said, which was also the fly in the ointment to every theory they came up with. Henry was the outlier. The only thing that didn’t make sense. As far as Hope knew, she and Henry both had the same father and Henry had never said anything different. Why would he lie to her for so many years about having a sister and potentially a different father?

“I definitely think their memories have been altered or erased in some way.” Alice said. “My gut usually tells me if a person is lying, and Papa hasn’t lied to me once about thinking Milah was my Mama.” She frowned at the prospect that her gut could have been wrong about her Papa all these years.

“Is it always right?” Hope asked. “I mean, you told me that it seemed to hate me on sight when we first got here, but it’s calmed down now, right?” Alice nodded. “Wait! Did you say it mainly tells you if someone is lying or not?” Hope asked, realizing what else Alice had said. Alice nodded. “My mom has that same thing. She can tell when someone is lying. I’ve always chalked it up to being able to read people well, but maybe it’s something you’ve inherited from her!” Hope got really excited about that prospect. Another piece of the puzzle being put together.

“What was it like growing up with a brother?” Alice asked, changing the subject. Her whole world had been turned upside down and hearing about things she may have inherited from a mother she never knew existed still felt a little weird.

“It…” Hope paused looking for the right words to describe it. “It was different. He’s 15 years older than me so we weren’t close. I mean, we were close, but not the close that two siblings would have if they were only a few years apart. I know he tried to help out mom with me as best he could. He lived at home during college when he could have lived at the dorms, and he lived at home until I was around 10 before mom kicked him out. He only lives a few blocks from us and he’s been real busy with the book writing lately. But he always makes time for me when I need to get away from mom for a little bit. In fact, he paid for me to go to camp this summer because I’ve wanted to go for forever.”

There was a bit of silence after that. Neither one knowing what to talk about next. They’d exhausted their theories and both of them were a little leery about learning about the other one’s parent without finding out why they’d been separated and potentially lied to for their whole lives.

Hope spent the next day reading through Henry’s novel, as if it might hold potential clues for her, even though it was a work of fiction. Alice spent them drawing pictures of various things, everything from characters in the book to things that had happened around camp. Hope was a little jealous at how good Alice was. 

Finally, the day to go into town arrived. Alice and Hope had woken up early and were the first ones on the bus. They’d be getting into town around 10:00 so they’d have a little time to shop around before meeting Henry. They were both so antsy the entire trip there. As they got off the bus, Mrs. Hatfield remarked about how well they were getting along with a knowing look. If she only knew her initial assumption of them being sisters had been spot on, and that was the reason they were getting along, not because of the stupid Get Along Cabin.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Henry had not been all together surprised when he had received the phone call from Hope. He had been expecting it after all, just not so early. He’d thought he’d have another 4 weeks, once camp had ended to figure out how to explain the situation they had all found themselves in. It wasn’t every day, after all, that one meets their long lost twin sister that they never even knew existed (although Disney would have people believing it, but they messed up most of their retellings of fairy tales, why would this be any different). But here he was, with only two days to figure out what he was going to tell his sisters, one of whom he hadn’t seen since she was two.

He knew the situation was a mess. It had been a mess since the twins were born. It wasn’t as if any of them had wanted this situation to happen, but it had and they’d been living with it for the past, almost twelve years. Well, Henry had, anyway, it wasn’t as if anyone else involved in this knew what the hell was going on besides him.

The whole situation was bittersweet. He had checked up on Killian and Alice over the years, not that they knew that. He’d been discreet. Just happening to be in the same park as them even though it was nowhere near where he lived; jogging near Alice’s school as she grew up to be able to see her during recess. It had pained him to see her playing by herself in a trove of trees near the back of the playground away from everyone else. As she got older, she had the drawing pad, and he was happy that she had something she enjoyed doing. Henry had even gone to a few of her art shows and seen just how much like Killian she was in the drawing department.

It was a lot harder to check up on Killian, as he worked at the docks and it wasn’t like Henry could just hang around the docks for no reason. He’d thought about getting a job there when he was old enough, but his mother would’ve thrown a fit. She would have given him a talking to about wasting the scholarship money he’d been given for his fancy Creative Writing Bachelors to go work, what she would have considered, a dead-end job at the docks. He had to make it part of his morning run, except that when Killian moved into management, he couldn’t get a look at him at all.

Deciding to go into Creative Writing in college was a no-brainer. He knew he needed to get his story out, but he needed to do it in sections. Become one of those writers that had a book series instead of just one book. He wouldn’t have been able to get everything into one book as it was. The problem that he hadn’t anticipated was that no one wanted to publish it. He thought the alternative fairy tale genre would have still been a big seller, but it seemed that book publishers were more into dystopian societies again (a resurgence from when he had been a kid). It had taken him a lot longer to get Once Upon a Time out to the masses than he’d intended. The sequel would just barely be released before Hope and Alice’s fourteenth birthday and that was cutting it really close for what needed to happen.

Henry had done the best he could in helping his mother raise Hope. He knew it was not the life she had imagined when she’d found herself pregnant. He still remembered with distinct clarity when she’d come rushing out of the bathroom waving around the pregnancy test. Explaining to Killian what the two lines meant, and then forcing Henry to go buy her a digital test just to make sure the cheap ones she’d bought over the internet weren’t faulty. They’d been so excited to start their family together. And when they found out they were having twins, well Killian had practically spun Emma around in excitement (a little hard because they didn’t find out about the twins part until she was almost five months along and she was already huge. Alice had apparently been shy even in the womb as she was hiding behind Hope in the ultrasounds; their heartbeats always perfectly in sync with each other). And then...everything happened.

Maybe it would be better if Henry tried to write what he wanted to say down. He’d always done better with an outline, a plan, an operation. Operation Gemini was on!

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The girls were already waiting at a table in the coffee shop when Henry arrived; three hot chocolates set at each place, all with whipped cream and cinnamon Henry noticed. As soon as Hope noticed him, she immediately stood up and ran to give him a fierce hug. 

They stood there, hugging at the entrance, for what seemed a long while. Had it really only been two weeks since she’d gone off to camp? It felt almost like a lifetime. Even though Henry had moved out of the apartment, he still came by to see his mom and Hope every day. It was just the kind of family they had. Very close. 

Henry had moved them off to the side so as to not block the entranceway, and he felt Hope shuddering in his arms. She was silently crying Henry realized as he stroked soothing circles on her back, something that always calmed her down as a little girl. He looked over to the table and noticed Alice sitting at the table waiting for her world to drastically change and all she looked like she was feeling awkward while she waited for them to finish their emotional reunion.

“I don’t even know why I’m crying.” Hope wailed softly. “I just have so many questions and emotions from discovering that I have a sister, and it has finally hit me now that you’re here, Henry.” He was making this all real. And no matter the answer, no matter what he told her, Hope and Alice had to keep an open mind, because Henry knew the reality of this situation was going to change things forever.

“It’s okay, Hope.” Henry whispered into her hair, something else he’d always done when she was younger. “I promise, everything is going to be okay.” He kissed the top of her head for reassurance. Hope seemed to snap out of it, and she broke away from Henry and dried her eyes on the back of her hands. Henry pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and gave it to her.

“Always a gentleman.” Hope said as they walked over to the table. Alice, who had watched the whole exchange, looked at Henry with wide eyes. Henry wasn’t sure how either of them were going to handle what he was about to tell them, but Alice, despite the wide eyes, seemed overly calm about the whole situation. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Henry.” Alice said, putting her hand out for him to shake it as he sat down at the table. Henry could tell she wasn’t quite sure what else to say. He could only imagine how she must feel, having grown up an only child and now she supposedly had a twin sister and an older brother.

“We’ve met before.” Henry said sadly, taking a good look at her while he and Hope took their seats. It was like looking at a punk rock version of Hope and it was a little strange. “But I haven’t seen you since you were two and mom and Killian were still dressing you in matching outfits.” He laughed, remembering how their mother, of all people, liked dressing them the same and Killian absolutely hated it.  _ They’re individuals, Swan, not dress up dolls! _ Everyone nervously took a sip of their hot chocolate.

“Can we just cut to the chase.” Hope said. Henry chuckled at how much like their mother she was. Besides looking like her, just with a fuller face that he chalked up to still being a child, she had inherited her personality, and was always straight down to business. No pleasantries, no small talk, just get straight to the point.

Operation Gemini hadn’t made it much past the notes phase when Henry tried to figure out how to explain things to them. Giving a speech was not the way to go. This wasn’t a book that he could plot out an outline and hope that everything went the way he wanted it to (at least not yet). And he knew these two girls were much too smart to not ask questions about everything he presented to them. He needed to know what they knew or had hypothesized for themselves before figuring out what and how to tell them about their pasts.

Alice,” Henry said turning to her, “tell me what you’ve been told about your mother.” 

“Uh,” Alice had not expected to be put on the spot, “her name was Milah.” Henry nodded in agreement, since he already knew that was who she thought was her mother. “She and Papa were together for about five years before they got married and had me. I’m named for my Papa’s mother. She died in an apartment fire when I was two which is also how Papa lost his hand. We…” Alice’s voice drifted off when Henry took out a notebook and started writing everything she told him down. He wrote at a very alarming rate, and it would look as if the words were magically appearing on the page, or at least, it would look like that to Alice, if she believed. 

‘H..how are you doing that?” Alice asked, fascinated. The pen he was using looked like an old fountain pen, the kind that required ink. Alice looked around but she saw no ink. He saw her look closer at the notebook which was an old, leather bound notebook with parchment inside. Henry held his breath.  _ Could she see?  _ Henry looked at Hope who was looking at Henry intently the same way Alice was, but he could tell that all Hope saw was a normal pen and notebook.

Henry looked up at Alice with a quizzical look on his face. “How am I doing what, Alice? What exactly do you see?” From his tone, he hoped that Alice could see he truly wanted an honest answer. She looked hesitant for a moment, took another gulp of her hot chocolate, but then drew a deep breath before telling him exactly what she saw.

“You have an old fashioned fountain pen, but it seems to not need any ink. And it’s putting the words on the parchment for you.” Alice gulped. Henry knew that what she had said would sound crazy to anyone else, but not to him. She looked over at Hope who was looking between Alice and the pen and notebook. She definitely was looking at Alice as if she just said the craziest thing ever. A wide smile crept over Henry’s face and tears sprang to his eyes. He wanted, more than ever, to just wrap Alice up in his arms like he had when she was a baby, and give her the biggest hug imaginable. He put the fountain pen and notebook aside.

“Alice,” Henry said as he took both her hands into his, “I need to ask you something, and please answer honestly. No false modesty for my sake, please.” Alice nodded. “Now, I know Hope hasn’t read my book because she says it’s not her style,” Hope rolled her eyes at this statement, crossed her arms and mumbled “ _ I've read some of it _ ,” Henry gave a small laugh at that and focused back on Alice, “but have you read it?” Alice nodded, unsure of where Henry was going with this. “And tell me, my dear Alice, what did you think of it?” He continued.

Henry watched Alice closely as she tried to figure out where to begin. 

“It felt like I was reading about people I’d imagined my whole life. Like they’d been living in my head with no way out and then, bam! There they were on the page in front of me. And then I started drawing. Oh, I’d drawn mostly landscapes, places that were right in front of me, but I’d had these images in my head for so long of people, that about a year before your book came out, I’d started drawing them as well. And then there they were in your book. I have sketches of Snow White and Red from before your book even hit the shelves, and at first it scared me, because Papa has always said I might be psychic, just knowing little things here and there, but there it was for me to see. These people who I’d been imaging. I’d never known their story, and here it was laid out for me in the pages of your book.” She took her hands away from Henry’s and put them in her lap as a few tears, Henry couldn’t tell if they were happy or scared tears, slipped down her cheeks. Henry was still staring at her intently, his smile even wider if that were possible. He watched her put her one of her hands under her hair and rub the back of her neck, just like Killian always did.

“Why did you ask her that?” Hope asked breaking the silence that had enveloped them after Alice had finished her revelation. Alice almost looked embarrassed about Hope asking. She’d just bared her soul about all the thoughts that had been in her head, probably for years, and how Henry’s book had opened the floodgates, and Hope’s only response had been to ask why Henry had asked that particular question? Of course Hope would be the non-believer. Like mother, like daughter.

“That’s actually a very good question, Hope.” Henry said, his smile never fading. He beamed something that he hoped conveyed pride at Alice before looking over at his sister. 

“I was going to start out telling you something different. I went over this in so many different ways the past two days, but I think I’m going to have to start with the storybook.” Henry said as he went to grab something out of his satchel. Hope rolled her eyes and scoffed.

“Henry, you cannot tell us we are sisters and then just go off about your fairy tale book. I get that she’s a fan, but there are more important things going on here besides your book.” Hope said, exasperated. Henry paid her no mind. He placed two books on the table. One was a much bigger, much older looking copy of his book, made from what looked like real leather and gold leaf. Like something the publisher might sell as a collector’s edition. The other looked like his current book, only it was white with a picture of an apple tree on it in a golden frame. It also said Once Upon a Time, but not as ornately as the last book. The O was in red while the rest of the letters were in brown. Underneath the title read the words: Emma’s Story.

“Is...is that the new book?” Alice squeaked out. Henry’s smile grew even wider if that was possible.

“It sure is, Alice.” He said quite happily. “And, actually, Hope, these books will tell you everything you need to know about your past.” Both Hope and Alice looked at him. Hope’s expression was one of disbelief. She’d always held their mother’s belief in the practical, everything had a logical explanation, even if lightbulbs tended to pop when one of them were angry, or they’d find random candles lit without any explanation for it when they really needed to relax. Alice’s eyebrows were practically in her hairline for how high she had raised them. Henry could see that she was more open to what he was trying to tell her.

“They’re all true?” Was all that Alice could get out.

“Yes, Alice,” Henry nodded, “they’re all true.” Alice smiled with tears starting to form in her eyes. 

Hope looked from Henry to Alice completely confused. He could see she was trying to comprehend what he was trying to tell her, that the fairy tales he had written about were supposed to be real, but her brain did not compute that. Fairy tales weren’t real. They lived in the real world and magical things simply did not happen. And now Hope was getting angry, because Henry still hadn’t provided any explanation to how she and Alice had become separated and why they had been told lies their whole lives about who their parents were.

Henry sighed. “Look,” he said, running his fingers through his hair nervously, “this book here,” he pulled out the larger copy of his book and placed it on the center of the table, careful not to knock over any of their half drunk mugs, “is not just some fiction I made up.” He couldn’t believe he was in this situation where he had to explain this all over again. “Every story in this book actually happened. It’s the story of our grandparents and what they went through to eventually end up in this world.” Alice took in a breath of air while Hope looked at Henry like he was insane.

“Henry,” Hope started, “fairy tales aren’t real. What you’re saying is ludicrous, and you’re beginning to really scare me.”

“So, the Emma at the end of the book,” Alice said in barely a whisper, “she’s your mom? She’s actually the real daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming and the savior destined to break the Evil Queen’s curse?” Henry knew it was a lot to take in, he knew it sounded insane, but he could also see that Alice believed every word that Henry was telling her. Hope just stared at both of them with a look that said she felt like she was the only sane person at their table. 

“She did break the curse!” he said excitedly. “That’s what’s in this book. How  _ our _ mother broke the curse and the various things that happened afterwards until she came to the Final Battle. And then….” Henry took a breath trying to stave off the catch that was starting to form in his throat. “We were separated. That’s how this book ends. With our separation.” He grabbed the almost empty mug in front of him and drained the last dregs of hot cocoa that were in there, grimacing at the grainy texture of the chocolate that had coagulated at the bottom. When he looked back at his sisters (he had never been so happy to add that extra ‘s’) he could see that Alice was thoroughly convinced that he spoke the truth, but Hope was still looking at him with a mix of incredulousness and a slight hint of murder. He could see her wanting to object again but cut her off when he continued with what he had to say. 

“The final book. The final book of my series has not been written. I have no idea how it will end. Both of you need to help me write it because it’s about us, all of us. You two, me, mom, and Killian. It’s about what happened to us and a terrible danger that we will have to face.” Hope’s face immediately tensed at the word danger; Alice’s face lit up intrigued. He continued. “It won’t be easy. I am putting us all in jeopardy, but I don’t have a choice. This is something that we’ve known about since you two were born and I’m the one who has had to carry the burden of it for the past almost 12 years.” Tears were falling from his eyes and Alice handed him a napkin as Hope had never given him back his handkerchief from earlier. Alice also had tears falling as she had listened to what he had told him. Hope just looked frustrated.

“Henry,” Hope said, breaking in again, “are we ever going to get any answers, or are you just going to parade your books around to Alice and let her fangirl over them. We’ve been here,” she checked her watch,” for an hour and you’ve given us nothing but fairy tales. Not even that, you’ve just given us the books to decipher an answer out of! We have to meet back on the bus to camp in an hour. Are you going to be able to tell us everything we need to know by then?” She gave Henry the look, the look he’d seen too many times on his mother that showed that he wasn’t telling her the whole truth and she was getting tired of it. If she’d been standing, Henry was sure she’d be stomping her foot like the tantrums she used to throw when she was younger.

Henry thought for a minute. There was no way he could tell them everything he needed to in an hour. Hell, would they even be able to function at camp after everything he needed to tell them? Would they even believe him? Alice definitely seemed open to it, but Hope, she was so stubborn. It was like trying to convince their mother all over again. And that’s when he made the decision.

“Look, Alice, do you trust me?” He asked, holding out his hand to her. She didn’t even hesitate, she took his hand and answered yes. “Hope, Alice, you are sisters. I am your half brother. Emma and Killian love each other very much, they just don’t remember, and I need your help to bring our family back together. But to do that, you’re going to have to leave camp and come with me. Can you do that?” 

Alice nodded with no hesitation. Henry probably should have been a little more concerned that Alice seemed so willing to leave camp and go off with a perfect stranger who had just told her that he was her brother with no other explanation except that fairy tales were real and she needed to somehow get their family back together, a family that didn’t even know they were broken, but he saw the belief in her eyes and the trust she had toward him and Hope, and he looked past that concern. Besides, he was her brother, just because she didn’t remember him didn’t mean they weren’t blood. Both he and Alice looked over at Hope who was still looking at them like they were the craziest people she had ever met. Henry was about to apologize for ruining her camp experience when she finally spoke.

“Well, I guess you two don’t really leave me a choice. I gotta make sure you crazy, and yes, I mean the literal meaning of crazy, people don’t get into too much trouble. Someone has to make sure that when mom and Alice’s dad, ...our dad, whoever he is, find us that we have a sane person to explain we went willingly and Henry doesn’t get arrested for kidnapping or whatever.” Hope flipped her ponytail behind her shoulder as if she didn’t really care either way if they got in trouble or not, but Henry knew better. He knew she was coming along on this crazy ride to make sure Henry didn’t do something stupid and to be there for Alice.

Henry held out his hand for Hope since he was still holding Alice’s from earlier. She hesitated only a moment before grabbing it. Alice and Hope both gave a slight jolt, something most people would not have noticed or thought they had just had a shiver run through them at the same time, but Henry knew, he knew that was the sign that everything was starting. It was the sign that their family was coming back together.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again a big thanks to my betas. Profdanglais and Recoveringthesatellites you are amazing! Thank you so much.
> 
> This is a long chapter, about the size of the last two chapters.
> 
> Enjoy!

It was a four hour drive from Boston to Chantey’s Lobster House, and Emma was still confused about what the hell was going on with Henry that he not only took his sister and another girl from camp, but that he wanted to meet at a random restaurant in Maine. She had looked it up online and there didn’t seem to be anything special about it. No reason why he chose this place over another. It did seem to be the last establishment near civilization for a while according to the map. There wasn’t anything near there for the next 100 miles or so, which seemed really strange for Maine, since the forested area near it didn’t seem to be part of any national parks land or trust either. Emma had used some bail bonds tricks to try and see if Henry and the girls were staying at a motel nearby, but as far as she could tell, no man had checked in with almost identical twin girls. Could they possibly be camping out in the woods? They had to have stayed somewhere the previous night.

Emma and Killian were now on the road to said eatery, which was not awkward at all. No it wasn’t. Especially not after the conversation they’d had with Henry that morning. Nope. Not awkward at all.

_ “Mom?” Henry said as Emma put the phone on speaker so both she and Killian could listen. _

_ “Henry, thank god!” Emma’s eyes began spilling tears that she’d been holding in since the previous night when this whole mess had started. Killian had touched her shoulder to comfort her at the first sign of her distress. She almost didn’t notice it, because it felt so natural, like he should be the one comforting her. And it almost felt familiar, like she knew exactly how his hand would feel on her shoulder. Like he’d done it before. But that was impossible, because they had just met this morning. And just as Emma was about to panic about how not panicked this was making her feel, he snatched his hand away, as if he was also realizing that they barely knew each other and it was not appropriate for him to be comforting her. _

_ “Henry, I’m here with Killian, just like you asked.” Emma said. _

_ “Hello, Henry.” Killian’s voice was deeper than normal and sounded a little menacing, yet calm at the same time, as if he were talking to an actual kidnapper and not her son (and for some reason this started to conjure images in her head of how he would talk in the bedroom, and this was not the time or place for that line of thinking). _

_ “Hello, Killian, it’s good to hear from you again.” Henry stated as though talking to Killian was a normal occurrence. That threw Emma. Why was Henry talking to Killian as if he were an old friend? It seemed to throw Killian too. He looked even more distressed, pacing the room while tugging at his hair. _

_ “Do we know each other, lad?” Killian asked, clearly troubled at the friendly way Henry was speaking to him. _

_ “We did.” Henry sighed. “Once upon a time.” _

_ Emma looked quizzically at Killian as if he was supposed to know what that meant. He shook her head and looked just as bewildered as Emma felt. What the hell was Henry playing at?  _

_ “Ok, Henry, you have some explaining to do and we’d like that to start now.” Emma said as calmly as she could. She was trying to keep this situation under control as best as she could, but the cryptic information that Henry possibly knew Killian at one point was messing with the both of them. _

_ “Not until you two meet me in Maine” Henry replied. He was eerily cool, which set off alarm bells in Emma’s head immediately. She put the phone on mute for a moment. _

_ “Something isn’t right.” Emma said softly, even though Henry couldn’t hear them. “Henry is the kind of kid...man, that gets excited about everything. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him sound this...this, I don’t even know what mood this is for him. I’ve never heard it before.” She chewed on her lower lip in worry. _

_ Killian stared at her, his blue eyes showing the worry reflected back at her. She shouldn’t need to make him more concerned, but this was not the Henry she knew. Something was wrong. Killian pushed his hand through his black and silver-threaded hair before reaching toward her. Emma suddenly had the image of him taking her chin in his hand, caressing her face to make her feel better, and softly kissing her. But the image disappeared when his arm reached past her to the phone where he unmuted it to respond to Henry. _

_ “Why is it so important to you that we meet you in Maine, Henry?” Killian asked him, again calm as a cucumber, his British accent making Emma feel quite at ease. What the hell was going on with her? Her daughter and son were missing and she should be freaking out about. It was if the sound of his voice just made her feel safe and secure and like everything would work out. _

_ “I’ll explain it all when you get here.” Henry repeated again. I’m sorry about this Killian. I really am. But rest assured, Alice is safe. She told me to tell you not to worry about your Starfish.”  _

_ Killian’s mouth started to turn upward into a sad smile and the lines around his eyes crinkled. Emma saw tears starting to form in the corners of them.  _

_ “She’s really all right then?” Killian asked as though he hadn’t believed Henry before.  _

_ “Of course she is Killian. I would never hurt my ….my ….a friend of my sisters.” Henry replied. “Now look. I need you two to come up here as soon as possible. There is much we have to discuss. We’re waiting for you.” And with that, Henry hung up. _

_ Both of them stared at the phone as if Henry would magically still be on, even though it was showing her call log. _

_ “So, I guess that’s that.” Killian said, threading his hand through his hair again. Emma nodded in agreement, licking her lips, they’d become dry during the phone call, but she saw him staring at her lips as if he wanted her as much as she wanted him. How would his lips feel on hers? How would his salt and pepper scruff feel rubbing against her cheek? He was a silver fox now and she could see in her mind how good he probably looked as a younger man. She shook her head of the unbidden thoughts that would not leave her brain, realizing this was not the appropriate train of thought to be having (and maybe in the future they could look back on this and laugh about it), and when she looked back at him, saw that his hand had now moved to rub at the back of his neck. He looked stressed.  _

_ Right.  _

_ Daughter.  _

_ Taken.  _

_ By her son.  _

_ Of course he was stressed. Emma really needed for this all to be over. _

_ “My car or yours?”  _

They sped along the I-95 in Killian’s Jeep Cherokee. It was an older model, one she didn’t even think they made anymore. But it ran fine and could get them where they needed to go. 

Emma had offered her car, the ancient yellow Volkswagen Beetle that she’d stolen when she was 16. The car was older than Henry and she had no idea how it was still running, but it was, and so she kept it. And even though Neal had given it a clean VIN number years ago to help her out after her stint in jail for his crime, she never once thought to get rid of it, because it reminded her of all the bad decisions she had made. Even if those bad decisions had given her the two best children in the world. Or at least one good child, Emma was starting to rethink Henry’s status at the moment.

“Music?” Killian asked, breaking Emma from her thoughts. 

“Uh, sure.” She said, hoping some music would break some of the tension floating in the air. It was bad enough that Emma’s son had taken their children, but this attraction that Emma was feeling toward Killian was driving her insane, being this close to him in his Jeep, where she could smell his natural aroma (and he smelled amazing), and practically feel the heat emanating from his body, was doing things to her body that she hadn’t felt in years. But it wasn’t the attraction that was making the tension, it was the fact that it almost felt natural, like sitting next to Killian Jones was the most natural thing in the world, and that was freaking Emma out more than any sexual tension between them.

The strains of an old classic rock tune, one she couldn’t place, but knew she’d known at one time, filled the Jeep. Killian started to hum along, and Emma could see some of the tension ease out of his body. His shoulders sagged against the back of the car seat, while his muscular arms loosened, and his grip on the steering wheel did too. Emma was impressed with the modern hook he wore that hooked into the driving apparatus so he could have both ‘hands’ on the wheel.

Emma forced herself to stop staring at Killian and leaned her head against the window, watching Boston fly by. She had never been on a proper road trip, although, she wasn’t sure if she could call this a proper road trip but it was probably the closest she’d ever come to one. Growing up in the foster care system didn’t really lend itself to road trips. She and Neal talked about road tripping it to Tallahassee before the whole watch incident happened, and then again when he came back into their lives, but then Hope came, and then Neal died, and Emma never got around to having that road trip. Maybe if Henry had gone to college somewhere outside of Boston, but he’d stayed home. Saved money, he claimed, living at home and getting in-state scholarships. 

A tear slipped down her face. Emma tried her best to not let Killian see her wipe it from her cheek, but even with his eyes on the road he was very perceptive.

He turned the music down with his right hand, his prosthetic hook staying in the steering wheel apparatus.

“Penny for your thoughts, love?” Killian asked with that wet-dream inducing British accent. Ugh! Well, she certainly couldn’t tell him that part of her thoughts now, could she.

“Not your love.” She said too quickly. She needed to get her walls back up. She couldn’t allow her nether regions to control her. This whole thing was bordering on ridiculous. “I...I just don’t know how I got myself into this mess.” Emma responded, curbing her tears. “I did not raise Henry like this. I don’t understand what is happening right now.” She was frustrated at this whole situation. “And Hope is my practical one. Why would she go along with this! Henry was always the one trying to convince her to do crazy things as a kid and making up stories. She was...is such a pragmatic kid.” Emma wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince that this wasn’t her fault, Killian or herself.

“Look, lo...Swan,” He began, and the way he said Swan did something to her. She had been too upset when he’d said it earlier to really hear the way it sounded. She didn’t realize her last name would sound so sexy coming out of his mouth. And it also sounded completely natural, which was odd because no one called her by her last name, ever. “I really don’t think Henry kidnapped Alice.” Emma turned to stare at Killian, because how could he not think that.

“I know my Alice, and while she may be shy with people she doesn’t know that well, she’s also fiercely loyal to those she’s friends with. I also know she’s been practically obsessed with this damn book your boy wrote, and if she had the opportunity to leave camp with him for some reason, especially since he’s a camp mates’ sibling, then I can totally see her doing it, consequences be damned.” Killian gave a small smile that Emma could tell was to soothe her. She gave a small smile back, a real genuine smile that she hadn’t used around a man in years. If he hadn’t been driving the car right then, she probably would have kissed him. Just grabbed the lapels of his red flannel shirt, pulled him close, and laid one right on him.

“Why don’t you try and take a little nap, Swan. We’ve still got a good three and a half hours on the road.” Emma realized that everything was catching up to her, and she was exhausted. She was asleep within five minutes.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_ She was climbing something, she wasn’t entirely sure what. It certainly didn’t feel stable like a rockwall or even a mountain would. And she wasn’t alone. Someone else was climbing with her. She wasn’t talking to whomever it was. She couldn’t make much out, just black leather and shiny metal. _

_ “You never forget your first.” She heard from her climbing partner.  _

_ “I love a challenge.” She grabbed a vine. A vine? What the hell was she climbing that vines would be involved? She looked up at the now obvious man that was above her on a….beanstalk? And yet, it didn’t seem odd at all. _

_ She was up high again, but this time she felt like she was on stone. There was a giant coming after her. Why was there a giant coming after her? The man in black leather was nowhere to be seen. Had he abandoned her? She struggled to find him, but oh, crap, the giant was coming for him. The giant passed by her and she struck him with something that knocked him out cold. _

_ “I don’t mean to upset you, Emma, but we make quite the team,” he said happily, but Emma was only annoyed. _

_ She had what she’d come there for and she, oh no, she chained him up with the giant. _

_ “Swan. Swan!” Oh, god, the anguish in his voice. She recognized it now. It was… _

_ She was in a nursery. Two babies were laid out in matching cribs and matching outfits. They were crying and she couldn’t get them to stop. _

_ “Who are the cutest babies?” She was about to break down. Why had she thought two babies wouldn’t be that hard? “You can stop crying any time now. Mama just wants you to stop crying.” The sing-songy voice she was using didn’t match the panic in her voice. Rattles appeared in both hands and she was furiously shaking them to try and entice the babies to stop crying, but it only made them cry harder. _

_ “Don’t you worry, my dear.” A voice sang over the crying from behind her. She turned and saw a heavily-lidded woman with dark, curly hair standing behind her. _

_ “Who are you?” She said backing up to protect the children. _

_ “Never you mind.” The woman said, moving toward her. “Just know, you won’t have to worry about your children for much longer.” The woman’s cackle echoed throughout the tower. The babies’ cries grew louder and louder. She needed someone, the other half of her team, she needed...she needed…. _

“HOOK!” Emma bolted straight up in her seat as she woke from whatever nightmare she was having. She startled Killian who was getting back into the car. Emma noticed they had stopped at a gas station. He was holding two take out coffee cups.

“You okay there, Swan?” Killian asked, looking concerned. Emma shook her head to clear it from the obvious nightmare she’d been having. 

“Yeah, sorry. Just a really weird dream.” He handed her the coffee cup which she graciously took. She took a sip as he settled himself back into his seat, placing his coffee cup in the cup holder next to him, and was pleasantly surprised at what she found in her cup.

“Hot chocolate?” She queried as her tongue savored the sweet taste. “With whipped cream and cinnamon?” The spiciness of the cinnamon rounded out the sweetness right at the end of the sip.

The tips of Killian’s ears went red and he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. “Uh, yeah? I don’t know. I started making it before I even thought about why. Um, Alice likes it this way. I didn’t want to waste it.” He stumbled over the words, obviously embarrassed about bringing her a kids drink. He looked so cute, all blustering and blushing. She took another sip.

“Well, it’s my favorite too. So Alice has good taste.” She said smiling at him and holding out her cup. He grabbed his cup from the holder and gave her a mock cheers in return, then he started the Jeep and got them back out on the road.

Emma checked her watch and saw that they’d only been on the road for two hours. Just another two to go before they reached their intended destination. Before they got some answers.

“Care to tell me what your dream was about?” Killian asked with a hint of caution in his voice. How could his voice just drip sex when he was just being a concerned person?

“Oh, it was just a bunch of nonsense.” Emma said, trying to calm her body down. “Something about a beanstalk and a giant. I think I must have been thinking too much about Hope and maybe that triggered an old fairy tale in my brain or something.” She smiled sheepishly and pulled a loose strand of hair from her ponytail to behind her ear.

“Oh.” He said, sounding a little troubled by her response. “It’s, just, um, well...” He was nervous, continually rubbing at the back of his neck. Emma wasn’t sure why he was so nervous all of a sudden. It wasn’t like he was having inappropriate thoughts about her. Was he? “You, uh, screamed my name at the end, when you woke up.” Killian clarified.

Emma could feel her skin getting hot and the blush creeping down her cheeks and into her chest. She thought back to the end of her dream, that moment between dreaming and waking up. There had been something about screaming babies and a woman, and…

“I didn’t say Killian, I said Hook.” It came out like an accusation. Was he trying to embarrass her in some way. “I don’t even know what that means. I could have been dreaming about Captain Hook for all you know.” She crossed her arms over her chest, and now she was angry. Dammit! 

“Oh, I…” Killian let out an exasperated huff. It must have been hard for him to have a decent conversation with her having to watch the road the whole time. She knew he could really only see her peripherally and was not getting the full range of emotions. “Sorry.” He said. “It’s just, with this thing,” he motioned his head toward his hooked appendage, “that’s something I tended to get called. My colorful moniker if you will.” He added looking at her quickly with a sexy smirk and a really bad attempt at a wink, that was still very flirtatious. Was he flirting with her? 

And why did it feel perfectly natural despite the fact that their children were missing?

Ever since Neal had died Emma hadn’t felt the need for a relationship. A one night-stand here or there, but they’d never felt right. She had no desire to attach herself to a man again. And yet, here she was, attempting to not flirt with this gorgeous man sitting beside her, who, from the looks of it, maybe was flirting with her too.

Killian seemed to take her awkward silence as something else, because he immediately put his eyes back on the road.

“Sorry, Swan, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. You can get back to fantasizing about Captain Hook, by all means.”

Oh yes, he was definitely flirting. And it actually wasn’t awkward at all.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Killian could have kicked himself after the Captain Hook comment. He was trying to defuse the obvious tension in the Jeep. He just hadn’t realized the tension was sexual in nature on both sides. He’d felt the attraction right away, but the prospect of her son having kidnapped his daughter had put a damper on that. But somehow, finding out that Alice was safe and had gone willingly because Henry happened to be her favorite author, made the attraction to Emma come out full force. At least, that was the excuse he was telling himself.

She had fallen asleep almost right away when he’d suggested taking a nap at the beginning of the trip. He’d been glad for it. Had given him some time to think about things, reflect on his life and what not. He’d always felt like something was missing after Milah had died, but Alice had been enough. She was all that he needed. But now he was wondering.

Wondering if the potential for a relationship had slipped out of his grasp now that he was 49. He refused to say he was almost 50. What a harsh number 50 sounded to him. Neither of his parents had made it to 50, or he guessed his father may have, but seeing as he left when Killian was small due to less than legal dealings, Killian had always assumed his death had caught up with him much sooner.

Wondering if Alice was truly happy without a female influence in her life. She was his whole life, but from this whole camp experience and now running off with Swan’s children, he was beginning to realize that he was not her whole world anymore. He knew that day would come eventually, but did it have to coincide with his mid-life crisis as well?

Wondering if there was potential for something with this woman softly snoring beside him, as long as Henry was telling the truth and no harm had befallen their children. Would that be weird to pursue a woman whose child had taken off with his child? Was that akin to Stockholm Syndrome in some way? Or, what was the quote from that awful Speed sequel that was on the other night? “Relationships based on extreme circumstances never work out.” Is it just the rush of the situation that is making him notice things like the way her eyelashes flutter when she breathes out in her sleep, or the stray piece of hair that he wants to move back behind her ear, or how her green eyes have tiny flecks of hazel in them.

After about two hours he feels the need to use a restroom and grab some more coffee. He figures they’ll be eating at the lobster house (hopefully everything will be alright and they will have appetites at the lobster house), so he doesn’t get any snacks for them to share. He makes the hot cocoa with whipped cream and cinnamon before he even realizes he’s doing it. She drank coffee at his house this morning, but for some reason he automatically made the hot chocolate for her. 

Alice had an affinity for the sweet concoction. Killian had no idea where she got the idea for it. She was not someone who liked sugary snacks or drinks. She prefered tea like he did, sour and licorice flavored candies, and fruit if she wanted something on the sweet side. He didn’t even keep hot cocoa in the house. He had gone into a convenience store once for a cup of coffee before they took a trip somewhere, he can’t even remember where, but she had insisted on a cup of it and adding the whipped cream and cinnamon. It had been summer time, so he’d been surprised there was even any hot cocoa in stock. Alice had been five or six if he recalled correctly. So any time he went somewhere with her he got her the chocolate treat. He hadn’t even thought about it in the gas station when he got himself his coffee this time. He blamed it on Alice being on his mind.

He’d come back to the car to find her in the throes of a nightmare, thrashing about in her seat. . He wasn’t sure if he should try to wake her or let her ride it out. Alice had nightmares as a child and the therapist he’d gone to see after Milah’s death had suggested to let her work through them, that waking her up could be detrimental to what she was working through.

“HOOK!” Emma shouted as she bolted up as much as she could being belted into the seat. The name jarred Killian. He hadn’t been called Hook in a long time. Back when he first lost the hand he’d had a few of his coworkers start referring to him by that due to the hook he wore at work to help him out. Once he got into management he started wearing the prosthetic to work and the nickname died out, and also because he was now their boss, and it wasn’t appropriate to call him that. He could only imagine what Emma was dreaming about that had caused her to call out his old moniker.

“You okay there, Swan?” His eyebrows furrowed in concern. Emma didn’t seem the type to have nightmares. He could tell she was a pretty tough woman. She’d told him she worked in bail bonds when he’d tried to be chivalrous and open the Jeep door for her, scoffing at him and everything. If they hadn’t been in the middle of, whatever it was they were in the middle of, he’d have kissed her right then and there.

“Yeah, sorry. Just a really weird dream.” She said, shaking her blonde ponytail about. He placed his coffee cup in his cup holder and then handed Emma hers. He had just started to maneuver his hook into the driving apparatus when he saw her smile at the sip that she took.

“Hot chocolate?” Killian could see her savoring the flavor in her mouth. “With whipped cream and cinnamon?” He’d almost forgotten that he’d gotten that for her instead of coffee. He felt the heat of embarrassment creep across his face and his ears, and his hand automatically went to the back of his neck, a nervous tick he’d never been able to kick.

“Uh, yeah? I don’t know. I started making it before I even thought about why. Um, Alice likes it this way. I didn’t want to waste it.” God, he was an idiot. He couldn’t even get this beautiful woman a grown up drink. She must think him the biggest buffoon ever.

“Well, it’s my favorite too. So Alice has good taste.” She smiled the most genuine smile he’d seen from her yet. It seemed she had an affinity for hot chocolate as well. Killian mentally patted himself on the back. They pretended to toast their drinks, both taking a sip. Killian put his coffee cup back in the holder and got them back on the road. They had another two hours to go before they would reach the lobster house.

He should have just turned the music back on. Or made some small talk. Asked her more about being a bail bonds woman. Hell, even ask her about Hope and Henry. Talking about their daughters should have been the most natural topic to talk about given their circumstances, but, no, he had to ask about the damn dream.

“Care to tell me what your dream was about?” He didn’t want to pry too much, but he was also curious about why she yelled out his old nickname.

She looked at him with ...confusion? He wasn’t sure what the look was that she was currently giving him. “Oh, it was just a bunch of nonsense.” Emma said. She took a deep breath as though the dream were still lingering on her mind. “Something about a beanstalk and a giant. I think I must have been thinking too much about Hope and maybe that triggered an old fairy tale in my brain or something.” She tucked a strand of her ponytail that had come loose back behind her ear, and Killian wished he wasn’t driving at the moment so he could have done it instead.

“Oh.” That was not the response Killian was hoping for. Of course, it’s not like she would have just come out and said  _ I was having a sex dream about you _ . “It’s, just, um, well...” He rubbed at the back of his neck again, making sure to still keep his eyes on the road and keep his hook in the steering apparatus. Should he tell her that she said the name he used to be called? She might be embarrassed that she was dreaming of his hook and called that out. He quickly made the decision to say something. He rarely flirted with women anymore, and something inside him told him she wouldn’t be upset. “You, uh, screamed my name at the end, when you woke up.” 

Killian could see out of the corner of his eye that she was all flushed. Had she really been dreaming about him?

“I didn’t say Killian, I said Hook.” Emma practically spat out. “I don’t even know what that means. I could have been dreaming about Captain Hook for all you know.” Killian could see that maybe telling her that had been a mistake. But now she seemed to be accusing him of making things up. 

  
  


“Oh, I…”  _ Don’t ruffle the woman who you have to spend another two hours in the car with, you git! _ “Sorry. It’s just, with this thing,” Killian nodded his head to his left side, “that’s something I tended to get called. My colorful moniker if you will.” And, as if it were beyond his control, he turned quickly toward her, gave her a smile and a wink, and then turned his head back to the road. 

He immediately regretted doing that. But it had felt completely natural. Like it was something he would do with her. His skin prickled under the slight unease he’d now brought into their conversation. What was she thinking? Was she thinking he was an absolute letch? He thought the flirting was coming from both sides, but maybe he was wrong. Or maybe, he thought as he peeked slightly at her and seeing her slight flush coming back, she was thinking the exact same things he was thinking.

“Sorry, Swan, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. You can get back to fantasizing about Captain Hook, by all means.”

Killian settled his eyes back on the road with another little smirk, but he could feel the tension in the air disappearing, with the smile he’d seen peeking out of the corners of Emma’s mouth before he had put them back on the road completely.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Emma and Killian spent the next two hours talking about anything and everything. It was all that Emma had imagined really getting to know someone was like, something she’d never had growing up. 

She learned how Killian had lost his parents at a young age.

“Cancer. Can’t really remember what kind, I was pretty young. I just know she was sick and then she was gone.” 

He paused slightly, “It took a few years, but then my father left as well. I was in my teens. He just didn’t come home and then I think some guys came looking for him. It’s all real hazy. I just know he must have been doing something illegal.” Emma nodded along realizing they had similar backgrounds. 

“I started working at the docks as soon as I got out of high school so I could make some money to go to community college, but I really liked working near the water. I’d hoped to save up for a boat someday and run tours out of the harbor, but then….” He trailed off and Emma could see a far away look glaze his eyes over. “I met my Milah. Again, the details are kind of fuzzy, but she was married, he was abusive. She had run away to the docks at one point after one of their rows, and I saw her, crying, and being the gentleman that I am,” Emma rolled her eyes and gave a small snort to that statement. She wasn’t sure why as he’d been nothing but a gentleman, but it had just bubbled up as if it were the most natural reaction to that statement. “I’m always a gentleman, Swan.” He responded in a slightly flirtatious tone and that smirk that once again made Emma’s cheeks blush. “I offered to take her to the police. She almost refused, I found out later it wasn’t the first time this had happened, but she eventually realized this handsome stranger, her words, not mine, Swan; I’d have gone with dashing rapscallion,” Emma put her hand over mouth as if she was trying to suppress a laugh, but she was secretly smiling, “was everything her husband was not. I was kind and caring and nurturing, and we were friends for a long time as I helped her prepare to leave her husband. And then we went past the friendship stage, and she realized I was also someone who truly loved and cherished her.” Killian gave a sad smile at the memory. Emma could only imagine that type of love, having never experienced it herself. 

“Of course, her husband wasn’t happy when she left him, and I can’t really say where he went, just that once he lost his power over Milah, he left us alone.” He frowned a little bit at that part, as if he hadn’t got it quite right and was trying to remember some specific detail. The pause was so great that it almost seemed as if his story had come to an end, but then he continued on. 

“We had tried for years to get pregnant. We assumed that it wasn’t in the cards when Alice came along. It was a cruel fate of the gods that my Milah only got to see the first two years of Alice’s life before she died.” He took a shuddering breath before pressing on. “It’s been me and Alice ever since.” And in a much happier tone, “I think we did pretty well for ourselves considering.” He gave a quick smile to Emma before turning his attention back on the road.

Emma, in turn, told him about her past, things even some of her closest friends didn’t know about. It was eerie how easy it was to open up to him. 

She was an orphan, “Found on the side of the highway. I don’t know what kind of parents do that to a newborn. I can only imagine it was some teenaged mother who couldn’t bear to kill me herself and hoped either a car or nature would do it for her.” Emma seethed. 

Being bounced around from foster home to foster home, “I had a family for the first three years of my life, it’s how I got the Swan name. But when they got pregnant they gave me back.” Emma said rather sadly. It had always been a point of contention with her that someone would throw away a child once they finally had one of their own. Had they really loved her that little? 

How she’d met Neal and their life of crime together. “You stole a stolen car?” Killian asked incredulously. “He was asleep in the back seat, how was I supposed to know?” Emma said slightly defensive. 

She told him how Neal had framed her and left her in jail, “Bloody wanker he was.” Killian retorted, almost as if he were responsible for Neal doing that to her. 

And how she’d found out she was pregnant, “But I was determined to do something better by Henry. I didn’t want him to have the same doubts and questions I did, so I collected him from the foster home he’d been in, I got my GED in prison, and I found a job and housing through an outreach program.” Emma said proudly. She didn’t actually remember a lot of those details, but just remembered how satisfied she’d felt when she was able to retrieve Henry and do something with her life.

“Neal came back when Henry was 11. I don’t remember why or how anymore, just that now that he knew about Henry he wanted to be a part of our lives again.” Emma sighed, vaguely remembering how angry she’d been at Neal for just showing up back in their lives. “I never fully forgave him, but I let him back in for Henry’s sake. And obviously succumbed to his charms, again, because, Hope.” She furrowed her brow trying to reach for the emotions that had come from that particular reunion, but found that she couldn’t find them. It was like she knew the memory was there but perhaps the emotions that went with it had faded from time. That didn’t seem right, but what other explanation was there?

Emma took a deep breath as she came to the part that required her to bare more of her soul than she was comfortable with, yet she felt it was easy to bare it to Killian. “I could never truly love him. He’d broken that trust when he’d sent me to jail. And even though we were stable and both in a good place, when he died in the fire, it was like a weight had been lifted off my chest that I would no longer have to wait for the other shoe to drop. Hope and Henry are enough, they’ve always been enough, and they are all I need.”

She started to chew on a fingernail, an old nervous habit of hers, after all that had been said. “Well,” Emma said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat and adjusting her seatbelt as if that’s what was making her uncomfortable, “that, was…”

“A lot?” Killian said with a slight laugh. Emma could tell he was trying to lighten the situation, as if they hadn’t just unburdened all their past trauma to each other. And yet, it didn’t feel weird to be telling someone who’d been a stranger until that morning about her past.

‘Look, Swan.” Killian began, placing his hand on hers in her lap. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of here. We’ve both had atrocious childhoods, but nothing that could be done by either of us to change anything. We’ve both overcome it to lead admirable lives and have wonderful children. This...whatever this is with Henry and the girls, is merely a small blip. I’m sure it’ll just be another amusing story we tell in years to come.” Emma’s skin broke out in goosebumps, not missing how he used the word we as if they would be telling the story together, something she didn’t seem utterly opposed to, especially since she’d also thought it earlier. She was about to say something back when her stomach let out a loud grumble. She smiled sheepishly.

“Guess I should have insisted you wait for me to get a snack at that last stop, huh?” She commented, pushing a little on her stomach. Killian quickly drew his hand away. The placement of it now seeming too familiar, like he’d had his hand on hers over her stomach plenty of times before.

“It looks like we’re about 15 minutes away now.” He said, checking the time on his map app on his phone. Plus it’s almost noon. We haven’t eaten since breakfast at 7:30 when we were leaving. Or whatever you called that ridiculous pastry that you insisted was breakfast.” Killian said shaking his head, some of his hair falling into his eyes. Emma was about to remark how a bear claw is not a pastry, but a superior breakfast food, but her mind had instead conjured up an image of Killian leaning over her with that hair hanging over her, his blue eyes gazing at her hungrily as though he were going to devour her right then and there. The image that was now seared in her mind felt more like a memory rather than a fantasy. Where the hell had that come from?

After the outpouring of tragic backstories, they listened to the radio instead of talking for the rest of the drive. Killian still had it on a Classic Rock station, the smooth sounds of Take it Easy by The Eagles wafting throughout the Jeep. This had been Classic Rock when she’d been a child and she smiled, thanking god that he didn’t listen to the music his daughter was probably interested in. Emma hated when she’d catch herself singing along to whatever famous-at-the-moment popstar was on the radio because Hope was currently obsessed with their songs. He even sang along to the songs under his breath, which was adorable.

Emma tried not to be too obvious about staring at Killian, especially when he was singing, but even his profile was gorgeous. She was sure he’d been a looker when he was younger, but she still thought he was a fine specimen of a man. She wished she’d been able to see the gray starting at his temples, getting to make fun of him for finally looking his age. She frowned a little at that thought. Where had that come from? Emma shook her head from that line of thinking and noticed that they were entering a more wooded area, civilization falling behind them. But it wasn’t until they were only five minutes away that Emma’s brain started getting that niggling feeling, like she was forgetting something important, and her arms broke out in gooseflesh. And that’s when she realized that this road looked awfully familiar.

It had been 19 years, but she knew exactly what this place would look like. She’d been there before. Emma was surprised the place still existed as she remembered the woman working at the counter had told her the food wasn’t that good and didn’t exactly instill customer loyalty. She was surprised that when Henry told her the name she hadn’t remembered. 

How did she forget the place she was discovered as a newborn?

How did she forget meeting the person who would turn her life around from one of crime (she hasn’t told Killian that part, the part where she had lost her job and due to her criminal record could find another one and had resorted to petty thefts and pickpocketing to help her and Henry survive) to a badass bail bondsperson? Hope’s middle name was Cleo after all, the name of the woman who believed in her and taught her about building those walls and inspiring the red leather jacket of armor she still wore to this day (although, not the original, that was long gone in the fire). It was as if the memory had been buried and had suddenly exploded to the surface when they’d rounded that corner.

Emma could see the outdoor patio as they turned the corner and her heart started picking up speed. The sign proclaiming the name of the establishment still had its red lettering and outline, although a little worse for wear now after so many years. Emma started to sweat as Killian pulled into the parking lot. Just a moment ago she’d had goosebumps and now she felt like she needed to rip all her clothes off for how hot she was feeling. It was as Killian pulled into a spot that Emma’s heart felt as if it were going to explode from her chest and she started having, what she assumed, was a full blown panic attack.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Killian wasn’t sure what had happened. One moment Swan had been nodding her head along to the music, and then she’d gone extremely quiet, and now he thought she might be having a heart attack.

Her breathing was erratic as she took in great big gulps of air, like she couldn’t breath. Her lovely face, that had had beautiful smiles on it earlier in their car trip was now pale, clammy, and covered in sweat. It was when she closed her green eyes and put her head in her lap that he realized she may be having a panic attack.

Killian understood panic attacks. He’d had them for years after Milah died. Sometimes he’d wake up having one; once he’d even had one just from feeling the heat from the stove (he’d burned dinner that night). Over the years (and through therapy) he’d learned how to calm himself down when he was in the height of one, and even though he had no idea what had triggered Emma’s, he was sure as hell going to try and calm her down.

“Emma.” He said with a calming and soothing voice and slowly turning the car engine off now that they had arrived at their destination. “Emma, love, can you hear me?” He dared not touch her, even though his fingers itched to give her comfort. He remembered how Alice, being much too young to understand why her Papa was shaking uncontrollably on the floor, had tried to lay her head in his lap, more for her own comfort than his, and him practically throwing her off of him. Her subsequent crying had actually brought him out of the attack, his paternal instincts kicking in over the panic that had overtaken him. But he knew that touching Emma would be more about what he wanted than what she could take at the moment. “Emma?” He asked again.

She shook her head in her lap and grunted something unintelligible, but it was a definite indication that she wasn’t all right.

“Emma,” Killian said again soothingly, “darling, I think you’re in the midst of a panic attack.” Talk her down, that’s what he needed to do. Provide her with a measure of safety. “Can you take my hand?” he asked, holding his hand out next to her. Emma bolted upright in her seat, eyes still tightly shut, sweat still on her brow, breathing still all over the place, but she thrust her hand into his and squeezed it.

“Well, I’ll admit, Swan, this was not how I imagined holding your hand for the first time.” He joked and then silently berated himself for flirting during this situation.  _ Smooth, Jones. _ He thought to himself.  _ Real smooth. _ But Emma gave a slight laugh, so he figured he must be doing something right. Holding her hand certainly felt right, and slightly familiar. Killian could already hear her breathing evening out. She squeezed his hand about every ten seconds or so until the shaking and the sweating stopped. After what seemed like a century, but had only been about one minute according to the digital clock on the dash, Emma finally relaxed her face and her eyes slowly opened. Her color and breathing had returned to normal and she relaxed the vice-like grip she’d had on his hand.

“I’m sorry.” Emma said, taking back her hand and using it to brush some of the matted hair off her face. She kept her eyes gazing straight ahead, looking directly at the lobster house. 

“Not to worry. Although, I was afraid I was going to be left with no hands at one point.” He gave her a goofy grin and waggled his eyebrows, even though she wouldn’t look in his direction. She smiled at the joke at least. A wonderful smile that got her back to her normal state a bit quicker he hoped. “I used to get panic attacks after Milah died.” He shrugged, letting her know she wasn’t alone. She took one more deep breath which seemed to finally put her back to rights.

“This place…” She began, “Henry wouldn’t have known. There’s no way he would’ve known.” Killian wasn’t sure what she was getting at, she seemed to be babbling to herself now, until, “Killian, this is where I was brought as a baby when I was found!”

And now he understood. He couldn’t imagine how he’d feel if he had to go back to someplace that had such a negative connotation to it.

Emma was wringing her hands in her lap. Although he’d only met her this morning, he knew being vulnerable was not something that happened to her often. He knew she thrived on being strong and not letting others see her weaknesses.

“Emma.” He said as he put his large hand over her small ones to calm them down. “It’s just a place. It doesn’t hold any power over you.” He hoped that was the right thing to say and that she didn’t spiral out into another attack. Instead, she laughed; a thoroughly hearty laugh.

“Ok, Goblin King.” She gave out a final laugh before pulling herself together. And then there she was again, the Emma Swan who he’d met that morning, no trace of vulnerability left. She pulled down the visor mirror and scrubbed her face, getting rid of the redness that had been there, and then redid her ponytail the best she could without a brush on her. Killian wanted to offer to help her, having mastered ponytails and braids for Alice with just the one hand, but the flirting seemed out of place now after everything that had just occurred.

“Let’s go in and see our children.” Emma grabbed the car door handle and swiftly exited the car ready to face this challenge.

  
  
  
  



	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are. Chapter 5. This chapter was a beast to write. Hopefully, you'll be satisfied with the answers this chapter provides.
> 
> Thanks again to my betas, Profdanglais and Recoveringthesatellites. I thought they were going to hack this chapter with a machete. Turns out, they wanted me to add a bit more. So that was amazing to hear.
> 
> Check out the banner artwork by Gingerchangeling on Tumblr. There is also artwork by Maria81 at the end of this chapter on Tumblr.
> 
> Enjoy!

_ Defeating Gideon had been surprisingly easy, if Emma called sacrificing herself and hoping to God and any other gods that were around that her sacrifice meant she would get to live her Happy Beginning with her family and new husband, despite having just been stabbed in the gut. And thank goodness it was True Love’s Kiss worthy, because Emma really hadn’t wanted to die. And considering that was the final battle, she felt it was the least scary out of everything they’d had to face in the past. The Black Fairy just preened and monologued most of the time, while Gideon had his heart stolen, so she couldn’t blame him for him wanting to kill her (she had immediately asked Belle to put a protection spell on his heart, like Regina had with Henry and she had with Hook after their hearts had been taken, which Belle readily agreed to). _

_ But now life was… well it was normal. And normal was not something Emma Swan-Jones (yes, she was hyphenating) had seen in the past few years. And it was... strange. It was strange living a perfectly normal life with Captain Hook as her husband, who insisted on using the iPad to find healthy recipes for dinner since he knew she would eat Pop Tarts or bear claws for breakfast and Granny’s for lunch. It was weird seeing him just lounging about in sleep pants on the weekends when they weren’t working (thankfully, David still worked weekends for them so they could have time for themselves along with the actual Three Musketeers spread throughout the week, who made pretty good deputies), or taking her and Henry out on the Jolly Roger to go fishing, or any other number of domestic fantasies she’d once had about idyllic life in Maine. What wasn’t strange was after a year of domestic bliss when the stick had shown the words ‘pregnant’ and she hadn’t freaked out about it whatsoever. _

_ Because there hadn’t been any danger in over a year, which was the longest the town had gone since she’d arrived. Nothing, nada, zero, zip, zilch. Just some bad dreams which was to be expected after everything they’d gone through in such a short amount of time. And which had made her and Killian a little more carefree. It wasn’t as if they were getting any younger. She was pushing 32 and Killian was… well, they’d agreed he’d be 36 according to the paperwork Regina had magically made for him. Killian hadn’t taken kindly to being on the closer end of 40, but Emma had insisted that it just made him more worldly, and if they did ever venture outside of Storybrooke, he could freely talk about things he had done in context with his age. And now parenthood was going to be part of that. _

“When does it get to the good stuff?” Hope huffed, interrupting Henry’s reading of the epilogue of his book. They were sitting in a tent in the woods only a few miles from where Henry was going to meet their parents later that day. Alice seemed to be having the time of her life, completely enthralled with the sequel to her favorite book, which seemed to be the real life account and love story of their parents and the defeat of multiple villains, until the final battle happened three years after Henry brought her to town. She’d read it the entire drive to the campsite and Hope had discovered she was a very enthusiastic reader. She constantly yelled or gasped or cried at something that happened in the book. Hope had gotten a chance to read much of it last night and the rest when the sunlight filtered into their tent that morning. She’d always been an early riser, unlike her mother and Henry. Hope had to admit it had been a fun adventure tale, (although the first few chapters chronicling the first year Emma had been in the town of Storybrooke had been pretty boring and in the last few chapter everyone seemed wildly out of character), but she wasn’t sure if she actually believed this was a true account of anything, like Alice and Henry did. Henry had insisted that he read the final chapter to them together, so they could understand what had happened. 

“Not every chapter needs to be action packed or full of chase scenes.” Henry admonished her. “Besides, don’t you want to hear about what happened after your parents' Happy Beginning?” Alice clapped giddily while Hope rolled her eyes. Henry had always been a bit dramatic growing up, but Hope still couldn’t wrap her head around this whole fairytale business Henry was trying to sell her.

_ Killian was ecstatic to learn he was going to be a father. Although, after everything he’d been through, the thought of having a child was a little daunting. He’d never imagined he would ever become a father. Of course, he and Milah had discussed it, but having a baby while being a pirate would never have worked. Once she had died he’d never even considered it until he met Emma. And now it had finally come to pass that he was being given the opportunity to become a father. He already knew having a child would be the greatest adventure he’d have in his life. _

_ Of course, when the ultrasound indicated they were not only having a girl, but two of them, Killian’s head went a little fuzzy and he had to sit down with his head between his legs so he wouldn’t pass out (Emma had teased him about it for days after and brought it up to everyone they came across). _

_ Twins! _

_ They were having twins. When he’d finally got his head on straight he picked Emma up in his arms (again reminding her he’d carried rum barrels bigger than her) and twirled her around. He was excited, so excited. Not only was he going to get the chance to be a father, but he’d get to do it twice in one go! His dreams quickly became consumed by little girls with his hair and Emma’s eyes, or Emma’s hair and his eyes. They’d be sailing, play sword fighting, drawing, all the things he wanted to teach them. They quickly agreed on names for the two girls. Alice for his mother and Hope because of everything they had gone through and the hope that had gotten them through. Emma had insisted that they use the names Cleo and Margaret for middle names, to honor two influential women in her life. So, from then on, Baby A became Alice Margaret, and Baby B was Hope Cleo. For the next few months everything was complete bliss. _

_ When Emma hit her third trimester, her mother, knowing that twins could come early, insisted on hosting Emma a baby shower. Emma agreed on the condition that it was a small affair. No grand balls or carnivals like she was wont to do. And so, on a sweltering hot day in early September, Emma entered Granny’s which had been closed down just for them, to find a large group of women waiting for her. Snow had stayed true to her word and not invited the whole town. Emma was relieved to see many familiar faces, including Ruby and Dorothy who had used the ruby slippers to come to the event, Belle who had brought a two-year-old baby Gideon with her (even though it still freaked Emma out slightly that this tiny child had once tried to kill her), Ashley and Aurora with their broods (they had both added one more child over the past few years), Elsa and Anna, and even Mulan had made the trip, though her girlfriend, Merida, had refused the invitation, Emma couldn’t blame her since she’d only known Emma when she was dark. _

_ Things had been going great. Regina had made her lasagna, much to Granny’s chagrin. Zelena was even giving helpful tips despite Emma having sped up her pregnancy (she reminded Emma that she had done midwifery research when she’d first come to town). It was nice that everyone in town was actually getting along despite the terrifying last few years. Emma really shouldn’t have been surprised when it all went to hell. _

Alice gasped so loudly that Hope actually jumped from her seated position on the tent. Her heart had immediately started pounding in her chest.

“Geez, Alice!” Hope said perturbed. “Lighten up. It’s just a story.”

“It’s not just a story.” Alice argued. “We’re reading about our mother. If anything, you should be the one more concerned as you got to actually grow up with her.” She sniffled as her anger gave way to tears. Hope almost wanted to roll her eyes, but she knew how strongly Alice felt about this all being real. Hope still wasn’t sure what Henry’s endgame was here, but she did know that she and Alice were sisters. She knew that with every fiber of her being. But Snow White and Prince Charming were their grandparents? The Evil Queen had cast a spell to bring them all to their land to get her happy ending? Their mother was married to Captain Hook (considering Alice knew her father had a false hand, she seemed quite surprised that’s who their father turned out to be), a former villain turned hero? It all seemed a bit much. She hoped there would be a simpler explanation somewhere down the road, but she was determined to let Henry play out his little fantasy for the time being until he brought their parents to them later that day.

“I’m sorry.” Hope sighed, placating Alice. “Please continue, Henry.” 

_ A swirl of golden smoke appeared in front of them. Emma immediately went on the defensive, a ball of white light forming in her hand. She could see Regina conjuring a fireball at the strange plume of smoke and out of the corner of her eye she saw Granny duck behind the counter for her crossbow. _

_ As the figure in the smoke came into view, Emma took in the mass of dark curls framing an olive face from under a black hood. The woman had big eyes with heavy lids and red lips that almost put Ruby’s to shame. Her burgundy gown seemed out of place for the modern town of Storybrooke, in that it looked like it belonged more in Camelot than even the Enchanted Forest. It was trimmed in the exact same shade of gold that her swirl of smoke had been. Emma realized she’d been staring too long at the woman who had just crashed her baby shower, but she had the overwhelming sensation thrumming through her body that she knew this woman somehow. _

_ “Who are you and what do you want?” Emma growled at the woman who had made no attempt to do anything after her grand entrance. The room had gone impossibly quiet. Even the children who had attended with their mothers weren’t making a peep. Granny still stood behind the counter, crossbow in hand, but she too wasn’t making any comments. Regina still had a fireball ready to go, it’s fire crackling at her fingertips, but nothing else happened. _

_ “I’ve slowed down time.” The woman said with a deep voice, one that seemed as soothing as a lullaby, but chilled Emma to the bone. The voice seemed familiar to her as well, although she couldn’t recall from where. “They can’t perceive what we are doing right now, but that’s why they’re not responding to me and only you know what’s going on.” The woman smirked at her. Emma had the impression she was supposed to be impressed.  _

_ She wasn’t. _

_ “I’m only going to ask you one more time.” Emma said, using all her strength to pull her hand back, a ball of magic swirling within. Her other hand instinctively went over her stomach to shield her children. “Who are you and what do you want?”  _

_ “Oh, my sweet dear.” The woman said in what Emma assumed was supposed to be a motherly tone. It sounded sweet and calming, but Emma could hear the evil lurking underneath. “Haven’t your dreams told you why I’m here yet?” _

_ A cold chill ran down Emma’s spine as she realized how she knew this woman. She’d been in her dreams! Floating above her, the woman would chase her through the streets of Storybrooke threatening to take something from her. Something that would…. make the woman stronger, if she recalled the dream correctly.. Emma had dismissed it as an anxiety dream; the woman representing any number of villains that could spring up and ruin her happiness. But here she was, in the flesh, and already Emma had failed to protect anyone around her. _

_ “You asked why I was here.” The woman said, her voice suddenly going from calm and soothing to cold and calculating. It now sounded like nails on a chalkboard to Emma’s ears and she couldn’t suppress another shiver that ran down her body. The woman gave a simpering smile at her. It made Emma sick to her stomach. She still had her magic at the ready though. She was not giving this woman an inch. _

_ “My name is Gothel…” _

_ “Like from Rapunzel?” Emma spoke without even thinking. Gothel turned to her slightly frazzled from Emma’s outburst, but schooled her features back to the smile that creeped Emma out to no end. _

_ “I have never bartered a child for greens, nor kept one in my tower. Nor have I kept a child in my tower to keep my youth.” She said menacingly, her face pinched. “Yes, I have done my research into what your realm thinks of me.” Gothel’s features changed back to look like a woman who would dote on a child rather than hold one against their will. “I am simply an ordinary elemental witch. Content to commune with the four elements and let them use me for what they need.” _

_ Emma did not miss what she had said. _

_ “And what do the elements need?” Emma was quickly losing her patience. And she had to pee. Two babies didn’t leave a lot of room for her bladder. _

_ Gothel smiled at her. “I knew you’d understand.” She practically purred. “It’s not what they need, Emma dear, but what they have told me. Some very disturbing things they have told me, and unfortunately for you, it means that your children are a danger to me.” Her blue-gray eyes flashed almost black. She slowly made her way up behind Emma and spoke directly into her ear. “This is not a warning, this is an absolute truth. Enjoy what little time you and your children will have together, because I will not let the whispers come true.” And with that Gothel poofed out of the diner in her golden smoke. _

_ Immediately, the patrons of the party sprang back to life, almost speeding up comically. Everyone looked around for whomever had come from the golden smoke, but all they saw was Emma crumpling to the ground holding her stomach and sobbing. _

Alice gasped as Henry read the last part and grabbed Hope’s hand, as if the move would comfort her as well. Hope was in no need of comforting. She just wanted to get to the end of the story so she could understand. The story was taking place in early September and Hope knew they were born in late September so there was no suspense if this was supposed to be about their birth. She knew her mother was alive and well, so she knew nothing bad was going to happen to her. This all just seemed... redundant.

She could see Henry staring at her, gauging her reaction. Alice seemed close to tears and Hope couldn’t understand why. She’d never even met her mother.

“So what is this evil supposed to represent, an almost miscarriage? We were born, so obviously everything is okay.” She rolled her eyes at both Henry’s eagerness and Alice’s sadness.

“Wow!” said Henry with a shocked expression that then turned into a smile. “You really are just like mom. She didn’t believe me either.” He looked back down at the book, preparing to continue reading. “Don’t worry, the interesting part is coming up.”

_ Being at the hospital, not knowing what was happening to her or her babies was the scariest thing Emma had ever faced in her life. And that was saying a lot considering everything she’d faced. But she wouldn’t know how to even look at Killian if they lost their girls. The men had gone out on the Jolly Roger during the party, taking a pleasure cruise, so to speak, so Regina had to poof out to them to let them know what had happened. Killian came rushing into her room, and grabbed her hand, and a fresh wave of tears spilled down her face. _

_ The barrage of questions came from his lips immediately. “Are you okay? Are the babies okay? What did the doctor say? What happened? Is there a new villain? Are you okay?” It actually made Emma’s heart sing, the level of concern he had for her.  _

_ “I think I’m okay, same with the babies. Whale just assessed me to make sure I had nothing external wrong. We’re going to do an ultrasound to make sure the babies are good.” She paused for a moment, dragging his hand to her cheek, something that always soothed her. “It seems there is a new villain in town. Her name is Gothel.” He quirked an eyebrow since she had shown him Tangled. Gothel had not been anyone he’d ever come across in his travels, so they’d figured she’d been made up for the story. “She said our babies are a danger to her and she won’t let whatever is supposed to happen, happen. She said this wasn’t a warning. Just the truth.” Her voice started to waiver again. _

_ Killian pressed a kiss to her forehead as she let the tears fall again. How many times was she going to put him through this? How many times was there going to be danger that he could do nothing to prevent from happening? But instead of comforting her some more or telling her everything would be okay like he was prone to do, he stood up, his body vibrating with anger, his hand pulled away and fisted on his jeans. _

_ “I’m going to talk to the Blue Fairy.” He said suddenly. “After Whale tells us that the girls are alright, because they are going to be alright, Swan. This...Gothel... wouldn’t have told you that they’d be a danger to her if they weren’t going to be okay. This was a scare tactic. An intimidation. And I will not have my family worried about some impending doom. We’ve come too far for this to happen now.” Emma reached for his hook and pulled him toward her. _

_ “Just stay with me for now. We’ll worry about this when we know everything is alright.” _

_ But according to the Blue Fairy it wasn’t alright. _

_ “Well, she’s definitely more than an elemental witch.” Emma and Killian stood in the Blue Fairy’s office, which was covered with large tomes, smaller books, and even a few scrolls. _

_ “So you’ve heard of her then?” Killian asked darkly. _

_ “Yes and no. She goes by many names, Gothel being one of them. Gothel actually means godmother and being an elemental witch means she’s most likely descended from a forest nymph or dryad. Possibly even from Gaia herself.” Emma saw Killian immediately get a worried look on his face. _

_ “I take it Gaia is bad?” Emma asked, suddenly feeling the weight of not finishing high school or going to college coming back to rear its ugly head at her. Killian grimaced and she could see him thinking of the best way to tell her what she was not understanding. _

_ “Gaia means earth in Greek.” He stated plainly. It didn’t take Emma nearly as long to figure out what that meant as she thought it would. _

_ “Wait! You think Gothel is descended from Mother Earth?” she exclaimed. _

_ “I think she’s exactly who she says she is,” the Blue Fairy said before Emma could spiral out. “But I think she’s a lot more powerful than she’s letting on.” She paused and gave a sigh before continuing on. “I found a prophecy in an old book. Probably as old as me. I think it’s the prophecy that Gothel is alluding to, but I need to study it first before I decide if it actually pertains to you. I don’t want to mislead you or give you false hope or false terror if it’s not the correct one.”  _

_ Emma wanted to rip the paper out of the Blue Fairy’s to read what it said. She could feel Killian tense up next to her, most likely thinking the same thing. But she calmed herself. How many times had she ‘jumped to conclusions’ before examining all the evidence first? It was one of her biggest flaws when she first started sheriffing and she wasn’t going to start doing it again. She took a deep breath to calm herself. _

_ “Okay.” Emma said, squeezing Killian’s hand to let him know that they needed to let the Blue Fairy do her job. “We’ll trust your judgement. Just let us know as soon as possible so we can come up with some sort of a plan. In the meantime,” Emma said, turning toward Killian. “I’ll put a protection spell around our house, the bug, and the sheriff station.” She turned back to the Blue Fairy. “Do you know of any protection spells we can use on ourselves or the twins?” _

_ The Blue Fairy shook her head. “Unfortunately, protection spells can only protect objects and people within them. And you know from personal experience that they aren’t one-hundred percent effective.” The Blue Fairy said. Emma nodded, remembering her experience with Regina and her mother, Cora, in Gold’s shop years ago. _

_ “Here.” The Blue Fairy said, conjuring up some chalk and pressing it into her hands. “This might help. It’s infused with fairy dust. It may look like glittery chalk, but it’ll have a little more kick to it than a spell and regular chalk.” Emma squeezed it and mouthed a silent ‘thanks’ to the Blue Fairy. Killian gave a slight bow. _

_ “Thank you Lady Blue.” he said before they turned and left. _

Hope was about to scream into her pillow. She checked her watch, noting that there was another hour before Henry had to leave to meet her mother and Alice’s father. She wondered if this epilogue would ever get to the point. She still had no clue why she and Alice had been separated and why their ‘parents’ didn’t remember each other. This whole thing was getting more and more absurd by the moment. Now Gothel had been brought into it? She remembered seeing that movie as a kid and not really thinking that Gothel had been a subpar villain compared to some of the other Disney villains out there. She knew in the real version the witch had no purpose for taking the baby except in trade. But in Henry’s version it was seeming like she had no real connection except for a random prophecy. Now she felt like they were veering into Harry Potter territory.

Henry must have sensed her frustration, again, because he paused his reading to stare at her. “I promise, Hope, this will all make sense soon,” was all he said before diving back into the book.

_ Emma and Killian spent the next few weeks in fear. The twins weren’t due until mid-October and they had no idea if Gothel would come around again. Both Emma and Killian, plus the Blue Fairy, Regina, Gold and David had been trying to figure out where Gothel had come from and how she had gotten into Storybrooke. Once they realized that the waters that came from the well were the same waters in Lake Nostos, Tiny had managed to take some of the burned beans he’d saved from years ago and restore them. They now had plenty of beans to make portals to go all over the realms again, but they were highly regulated by David, Snow, and Regina. People in Storybrooke could travel by portal, but, as far as anyone in town knew, no one from any other realm could travel to them. Usually someone from Storybrooke took a portal to the other realm, gave them a bean and took another portal home. They didn’t want beans falling into the wrong hands and becoming a black market trade item again. Of course, there always seemed to be beans regardless. But, there were only a few select people who knew about Storybrooke. How in the world would Gothel know about them and how in the world would she find them? _

_ While everyone else was working on the Gothel problem, Killian had discovered online that some really rare phenomena were going to be happening in the night sky. “There a Harvest Moon tonight!” he yelled animatedly. “I wonder if it will be orange like a true Harvest Moon or red like the Blood Moon?” Emma loved when he got passionate about astronomy, the man who was once guided by the stars. “It’s also a Super Moon,” He said almost in a teacher-like voice, “because it’s so close to your realm. And….” he paused for what Emma assumed he felt was an even more amazing discovery “It’s also a lunar eclipse!” Killian grinned widely. “Even in my hundreds of years, Swan, I’ve never seen anything like this!”. Emma could only hope that she’d be able to stay awake for it. _

_ Killian had just started cooking an early dinner so they could just gaze at the night sky when the first contraction hit. _

_ “Are you okay, Emma?” Killian dropped the mixing spoon and ran over to her. _

_ “I…I think I just had a contraction.” Emma was concerned. The babies weren’t due for another month, but she also knew twins could come early. _

_ “Do we need to head to the hospital?” Killian asked, clearly nervous and concerned. _

_ “No.” She said, kissing him on the cheek. “Water hasn’t even broken yet. Let’s have dinner. Lord knows they won’t let me eat in the hospital while I’m in labor.” Emma was surprised at how calm she was over this. Considering the last time she’d given birth she’d been chained to the bed and not even taken a look at Henry, she was feeling very empowered. Being in charge of her pregnancy the way she wanted to be had a way of doing that. They sat down to eat for their last meal as a family of two (Henry was at Regina’s, but they’d both be at the hospital when they felt it was time to go), when the contractions started ramping up. _

_ “I think it’s time to head to the hospital.” Emma said. Killian grabbed the go bag that they’d packed and headed to his old Jeep Cherokee they’d bought on a trip to Boston. _

  
  
  


“That’s what kind of car Papa drives!” Alice exclaimed, interrupting Henry just as the tension was getting good.

Henry smiled at her. Hope was feeling something akin to anticipation. She felt like they were finally getting somewhere in the story with their impending births. She knew that had to reveal something.

“Are you alright, Hope?” Henry asked, concerned. “You’ve been really quiet.”

“I just want to finish the book!” She said through gritted teeth. She really needed to know how this pertained to them, and all of Alice’s disruptions were starting to grate on her nerves.

Henry nodded at her and Alice and continued.

_ Alice Margaret Swan-Jones arrived at 9:07 on September 27th, 2015. The lights flickered around the hospital on Emma’s final push. Whale had been concerned (once Alice had been bundled up and placed in Emma’s arms) that it could have been Gothel, but Emma assured him that it was most likely her magic, and that the same thing had happened when Henry was born, only she hadn’t been aware it was her magic at the time. _

_ There was a perfect view of the eclipse from the window in their room. Emma and Killian watched as the almost blood red moon traveled across the sky and then disappeared when it was caught in the Earth’s shadow. Emma was glad she had this rare occurrence, plus her new daughter to keep her mind busy while she waited for her other daughter to make her appearance. Hope seemed to be taking her time, and it was making Emma nervous. She knew she could ask Killian to invite Henry and her parents and any other number of people who were anxiously awaiting updates into her room to meet Alcie, but she really wanted to wait until both babies were out. Whale had also started talking about a c-section if Hope didn’t make her presence known soon, as twins usually were born within minutes of each other, not hours. Right as the moon started to peak out from the shadow of the Earth, a huge contraction hit Emma again. It seemed Hope was finally ready. _

_ Hope Cleo Swan-Jones was welcomed into the world at 12:27 on September 28th, 2015. Emma and Killian were astounded when they realized that their girls were born on separate days, but they were just thrilled that they were safe and healthy. Emma had almost hoped her relatives and friends had gone home instead of waiting around, but they were all there, ready to see the newest additions to the Swan-Jones clan.  _

_ Henry insisted he be the first to see his new sisters, followed by Snow and David. Even Regina was permitted to hold them, something Emma could see she cherished, being allowed to be part of their family. It was almost three in the morning by the time everyone started to filter out and the Blue Fairy arrived, a look of despair written on her face. _

_ “What is it?” Killian immediately asked. He had Alice in his arms and hugged her protectively. _

_ “The prophecy is as I feared.” She looked down at the floor, almost as if the prophecy she suspected belonged to them was her fault. _

_ “How can you be sure?” Emma asked. She had been drowsy just a few seconds ago, but now it was if caffeine had been put into her IV drip. _

_ The Blue Fairy pulled out a thin piece of parchment from thin air and handed it to them. It was written in an elegant script, something Emma would associate more with a love letter rather than a prophecy. _

_ When the moon becomes red with blood, _

_ And darkness covers the land _

_ Two will be born.  _

_ One ere the witching hour and one hind _

_ To conquer nature’s sinister conjurer _

_ By separation will make stronger _

_ And reconciled on the day and night the true harvest moon meets. _

_ Emma read through it several times, not quite understanding. Her mind was swimming from the events of the day and that adrenaline jolt she’d just had was now coming down. She was desperate to know and understand, but she just couldn’t focus at the moment.  _

_ “Killian, take Hope.” And she immediately passed out. _

“Is it over?” Hope wondered, thinking that was an odd place to end the epilogue.

“Almost.” said Henry, but before continuing on he asked, “Did you understand the prophecy?”

Hope thought about it. “The moon becoming red with blood and the darkness is obviously the Harvest Moon and lunar eclipse,” she said.

“And the witching hour is usually midnight.” Alice interjected. “So it’s saying one would be born before midnight and the other after, just like we were.” But I’m not sure about the rest.” Alice frowned.

“Well then.” Henry said, noting that there were only a few pages left until the book was finished. “Let’s see what we can find out.”

_ Emma awoke to sunlight streaming in her window and Killian and the Blue Fairy deep in a whispered conversation. At first she was confused about why the Blue Fairy was in their bedroom, but as her arm hit the guard rail of her bed, she remembered that she’d given birth to the twins that night. She quickly turned to see the girls both sleeping soundly in their bassinets to the side of her, and she breathed a sigh of relief. _

_ “Ah! There’s the happy little mother!” Killian whispered loudly and got up to kiss her on the forehead. _

_ “What have you learned?” Emma asked, keen to understand the prophecy and how to defeat Gothel. _

_ “Well, we know this prophecy pertains to us because it mentions the twins and the fact that they’d be born last night on either side of the eclipse during the Harvest Moon. All that business in the sky last night was apparently a welcoming celebration for them.” Killian joked halfheartedly. _

_ Emma shook her head to clear away the last vestiges of sleep that clung to her.  _

_ “May I see the prophecy, please?” She asked, holding out her hand for the parchment. The Blue Fairy handed it to her. Both she and Killian tried to say something about it, but Emma put out her hand to stop them. She needed to look at the prophecy and come to her own conclusions before she heard what they had to say. _

_ “Okay. I understand that the first half pertains to our girls, but what about the second half? Nature’s sinister conjurer seems to be a fancy way of saying Gothel. Being separated from something makes her stronger? And what does it mean by a true Harvest Moon?” _

_ Killian stepped forward and took the prophecy back from Emma’s hand. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out, love. The Blue Fairy and I have already hypothesized what it could mean. But, don’t forget, prophecies don’t necessarily mean what you think they mean.” He placed the prophecy down on the side table and took a picture of it with his phone so they could study it more later. _

_ “So what do you hypothesize then?” Emma asked curiously. Her brain was still too muddled to even guess at what the second half could mean. _

_ “Well,” the Blue Fairy began, “judging from her cryptic message at your shower, we think that she thinks your twins can do some damage to her, or vanquish her in some way. Nobody seems to have heard of her in any other realm that I’ve been able to reach out to. And the only Gothel people know of here is the Rapunzel fairy tale, which, from all accounts, seems to have been completely made up and not based in any truth.” _

_ It didn’t make any sense to Emma. Why would a seemingly low-level witch, that didn’t seem to have made any sort of name for herself in either the good or evil camp, want to hurt her children? Why would a prophecy be written about her children defeating this unknown witch, who by all accounts hadn’t done anything to anyone yet?  _

_ Yet. _

_ “Have you looked into other prophecies that might pertain to Gothel? Anything about an elemental witch or nature’s sinister conjurer like our prophecy calls her? Maybe she hasn’t turned evil yet. Or maybe this whole thing leads her to turning evil.” Emma said, letting her thoughts take over. _

_ “A self-fulfilling prophecy you mean?” Killian asked. Emma could see his mind working. “Like that Oedipus Rex fellow who killed his own father and married his mother?” Emma laughed at one of the few outside of fairy tale literary references she actually recognized. She was about to say something when a loud wail pierced the air. _

_ “Looks like one of our little ladies has awoken from her slumber.” Killian said, walking over to the bassinet and picking up Alice, who was practically eating her fist.  _

_ “She’s hungry.” Emma said, holding out her arms for Killian to put Alice in. The Blue Fairy rose and told them she’d look into other prophecies that might pertain to Gothel. Emma got Alice all ready to nurse when another wail was heard.  _

_ “Ready to try and change a diaper?” A nurse said, entering the room. Emma laughed at the horror-stricken look upon Killian’s face. _

Hope let out a deep sigh. This epilogue was getting them nowhere, and it was too long. Hadn’t anyone ever told Henry that the epilogue should wrap things up and not bore the reader? But Henry wasn’t paying attention to her, nor was Alice. They were totally engrossed in the story that Henry was reading. Hope checked her watch and noticed that Henry would need to leave in half an hour. She really hoped the story would be finished by then, though that seemed impossible at this rate.

_ It was two years before Gothel made herself known again.  _

_ Two years in which the twins learned to crawl, and walk, and talk, and gained teeth, and grew hair, and had their own little personalities.  _

_ Two years in which Snow insisted on getting as many pictures of the girls as possible in matching outfits that she insisted on buying for them. _

_ Two years of Henry writing down every small story that happened and filling books as the author. _

_ Two years of silence in which Gothel was almost forgotten. _

_ Almost. _

_ It was a month after the twins turned two that the Blue Fairy started hearing whispers from the Enchanted Forest about a new evil that had taken root. Just small things at first, nothing she even felt was necessary to tell Emma and Killian about. A spark that ignited a forest fire, but no casualties. Spells that seemed to have gone wrong leading to bad weather, or higher or lower tides that affected the lands. But then, the reports escalated to the decimating of crops, the killing of livestock, the burning of entire forests. It seemed the ‘elemental’ witch was using the elements to drive out the citizens of what she was now calling ‘her’ forest. _

_ Emma had started having nightmares about her daughters being taken away from her, or trapped in a tower that she couldn’t reach. The worst were the dreams where she and Killian and the twins were separated and she couldn’t find them all to put their family back together. She would cling to Killian crying while he stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head, reminding her that they were safe, while showing her their sleeping girls in their cribs through the baby monitor. _

_ After one such night, Emma and Killian were rudely awoken by a pounding on their front door. This immediately set the twins off, which is why Emma was very rude when she flung the door open. _

_ “WHAT THE….” she started, but then saw the Blue Fairy standing before her looking as though she hadn’t slept in weeks. Her clothes were wrinkled, her eyes had purple circles around them, and her usually neat and tidy hair looked like she’d stuck her fingers in an electrical socket. _

_ “I’ve figured it out.” She said, not waiting for an invitation into the house, but just barging in and heading to the kitchen table. _

_ Emma looked perplexed as Killian came in holding both girls on either side of him. He handed Hope to Emma while he put Alice in her high chair.  _

_ “Figured out the prophecy?” Killian asked, gathering items to make breakfast for them all. _

_ The Blue Fairy nodded.“Everything! Who Gothel is. Why she’s after you. Why we haven’t been able to find anything about her previously!” Emma barely remembered to place Hope in her high chair before sitting down, her mind whirling. _

_ “I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure out why and how she came to you two years ago, when she was unknown to anyone. It didn’t make any sense. Even the prophecy I found was written by a seer only a few months before Gothel came to you. And then there was only recent happenings that suggested that Gothel was fairly new, so I went to the Enchanted Forest and consulted with an Oracle.” She paused, Emma inferred, to collect her thoughts. _

_ “The Gothel that came to see you was much more powerful than the Gothel that is currently trying to terrorize the Enchanted Forest. She was able to cross realms and slow down time. Not even Regina or the Dark One at the heights of their power could do something like that. Rumplestiltskin had to get Regina to curse the entire Enchanted Forest in order to cross realms. Gothel, at this point and time does not have the capability to do this.” Hope banged on her tray, startling them all. _

_ “You’re saying at this point and time.” Killian said as he cracked eggs for breakfast. Emma had to admire how he could stay so domestic while being told about someone who was trying to harm their children. “I’m assuming that’s not just for dramatic effect.” _

_ “You would be correct. The Gothel that visited you came from the future. That child she bartered for in her story? Used to make the same kind of time traveling spell Zelena attempted to do. According to the Oracle, she’s been studying up on you and your family ever since she came into possession of the prophecy and figured out who was going to destroy her. It seems she’ll become quite the vicious ruler, even worse than Regina, if that’s possible. She’s trying to recover the land of her foremothers by ridding it of all humans. It seems our theory about her being a descendent of Gaia is true and she’s reclaiming Gaia’s land for all elemental witches because we have destroyed it too much for her liking.” _

_ Emma tried to wrap her head around what the Blue Fairy was telling her. A very sizable foe had traveled back in time for the express purpose of warning her that her daughters were a threat and that she would be coming after them because of a prophecy. She knew she must be missing something, because she was feeling very much like Harry Potter learning about why Voldemort had attacked him as a baby, but having not understood that he fulfilled the prophecy just by going after Harry. Had Gothel shown her hand by warning them? _

_ “So, what does all this mean?” Killian asked, bringing over a bowl of scrambled eggs to the table on top of plates for everyone. He scooped some onto the girls trays and then plated some for himself and Emma, the Blue Fairy shaking her head when he offered her some. _

_ “It means she’s going to try and separate us all at some point, according to the prophecy.” Emma said matter-of-factly. _

_ A grim mood settled over them, the twins too young to understand happily eating their eggs with their hands. _

_ The Blue Fairy bid them farewell and promised she’d do more research into how to avoid the prophecy, but Emma knew that prophecies were usually unavoidable, but could often be circumvented to a degree. _

_ Unfortunately, it was too late. _

_ It was the next day when Gothel came back. Emma, Regina, and the Blue Fairy used all the magic they could to keep her at bay, but her magic was much too strong. She had all four elements on her side to work with, and their magic was not enough to defeat the original source of magic. _

_ After weeks of Gothel beating the town down with rainstorms, hurricanes, carnivorous plants, and almost anything else from nature that could be thrown at them, it was Regina who finally had the idea for them to leave Storybrooke. Gothel’s magic wouldn’t work outside of the town. Emma was adamant that they stay and fight. She couldn’t leave the people that she loved to fight this witch without her. But even her parents begged her to get out of town after weeks of Gothel attacking them. They’d holed up in Regina’s crypt, protected by blood magic, the one type of magic Gothel didn’t seem to be able to break. But because of the high price blood magic required, they couldn’t use it to protect the whole town. _

_ “It’s the only way, Emma,” Snow and David pleaded with her. “We can let you know when we’ve defeated her or figured out how you and the girls can defeat her. Please.” Snow was crying into Emma’s shoulder. Seeing how much her parents were scared for her finally got her to change her mind. She and Killian packed up all they could into her tiny, yellow bug and into Killian’s Jeep. They would head out of town the next morning. Henry insisted on coming with them, much to Regina’s chagrin. But he was 17 and wanted to see more of the world and help protect his little sisters. _

_ Emma was reminded of their goodbyes at the town line when Pan had cursed the town and she and Henry had to leave while everyone went back to the Enchanted Forest. Only this time, she had her husband and children with her, and the Snow Queen’s Scroll to get them back in when the threat of Gothel was gone. She would still be able to talk to her family and friends on the phone, or even video chat. Everything was going to be okay. _

_ Emma had Hope and Henry waiting in the Bug, while Killian had Alice in his Jeep. They were about to cross the town line when Gothel appeared, floating in front of them. She threw a bolt of her magic below her directly onto the town line stopping them in their tracks, cackling the whole time. _

_ “You think you can run from me and my magic?” She threw her head back in a shriek, her black curls whipping all around her in a black halo.  _

_ Everything seemed to be going in slow motion. Emma wondered if Gothel had slowed down time again, but she realized it was just the fear of the moment. Emma got out of the car, her magic crackling in her hands. _

_ “This ends now!” Emma said angrily. She was tired of this. Tired of the fear that had hung over them for so long. She just wanted to defeat this bitch and go back to her normal life. _

_ “You wanted to separate yourselves from your family to defeat me, fine! I’ll make sure you are separated from everyone. No one will even remember you were here.” And with that she pulled out a bottle from her dress pocket and uncorked it. _

_ “No one here will remember you and you won’t even remember each other.” The liquid from the bottle had begun to bubble and golden smoke started to pour forth from it. “This whole town will never remember the Swan-Jones family. And you will only know who you leave town with.” Emma’s eyes widened with realization that if they left town she wouldn’t know Killian or Alice, and they wouldn’t know her, Hope, and Henry. _

_ “Emma, Killian, you have to leave!” Regina shouted at them. Snow and David nodded in agreement, tears streaming down their faces. “The prophecy says you’ll defeat her, somehow you’ll figure it out, even without your memories. Now go!”  _

_ Emma and Killian looked at each other, both of them now realizing that they would not know each other once they crossed the town line. That their love story would not get a happy ending. And that their twins would both grow up without one of them. _

_ “I love you, Swan.” Killian said from where he stood next to the Jeep, his hand on the handle ready to get back in. “Never forget that.” _

_ Emma nodded, tears streaming down her face. “I love you too. We will have our happy ending.” They smiled at each other, not even having enough time for one last kiss. Emma sat herself in the front seat and the both drove through the golden fog over the town line together.  _

_ Emma only vaguely remembered the Jeep that kept up with her most of the way on her trip down to Boston. She was too concerned with how worried Henry seemed to be about their move, probably still reeling from Neal’s death a few weeks prior. She hoped their move to a new place would help him find the peace that he so desperately sought. _


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone is still alive after chapter 5. We still don't get everyone back together yet, but things are happening that will make Killian and Emma question what is real.
> 
> Thanks again to my betas profdanglais and recoveringthesatellites. This chapter did not want to be written and they helped get me going in the right direction.
> 
> Don't forget to check out the banner artwork for this on my Tumblr by gingerchangeling.

Henry waited nervously on the outdoor patio of Chantey’s Lobster House. Leaving his sisters at their campsite had been hard. Alice had been in tears after he finished reading the epilogue of his story, knowing that it was the truth. Knowing the sacrifice their parents had made for them to defeat an evil witch. Hope’s face remained stoic, with a slight smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. It was one he was familiar with, not just from her, but from their mother. He could still remember Emma showing that same face to him when he’d first brought her to Storybrooke and tried to convince her that magic was real and everyone was cursed. Never in his lifetime had he thought he’d have to do it twice (well, three times if he counted the Black Fairy’s curse). 

He was nervous. It had been a long time since he’d seen his parents together, and yes, he considered Killian to be his father. Even if they hadn’t gotten to be a family for long before Gothel’s curse, Killian had always been there for him, even before he’d officially started dating his mother. Henry couldn’t even imagine seeing him with no recognition in his face. And he really didn’t want his ire for essentially kidnapping Killian’s daughter, even if she was technically his sister. 

He saw Killian’s Jeep pull into the parking lot, but it took them a while to exit the vehicle, which made Henry even more nervous. Were they crafting battle plans in there? Were they arguing about him? Maybe they were already noticing that spark and making out in the car. Ew. That was not an image Henry wanted to think about, although, that would make things much easier if they already liked each other. 

When they finally emerged from the vehicle, Henry’s nerves ramped up threefold. He’d been thinking about this moment for the past, almost twelve years. From the moment they had left Storybrooke and he realized that his memories were still intact. At first he couldn’t understand why he’d retained his memories. He knew instantly that his mother hadn’t, as she started rambling on about a fresh new start in Boston. That she hoped taking him out of New York, away from the memories of Neal was okay, because she really needed this. It was only a few weeks later that the compulsion to write had seized him, after a particularly funny adventure involving Hope and the neighbor’s dog, that he realized that being the Author is what had left him with his memories. Since the Author was an outsider and had to write the stories down, he wouldn’t be affected by the curse. He’d never been so relieved to be the Author in his life.

Henry sheepishly raised his hand to wave hello to his parents as they came closer to the patio. Henry noticed that Emma was looking pale. Killian looked as though he hadn’t slept well. He didn’t blame them. He had taken his sisters without permission.  _ But it’s the only way _ he thought to himself.

They both reached the table rather quickly. Henry started to rise to greet them, but Emma gave him a small, almost imperceptible look, that she usually reserved for when he was in deep trouble, so he sat back down again. He almost felt like a kid again under that stare. Killian didn’t look as murderous as Henry thought he might, so that gave him hope that they could have a civil conversation. 

“I’ll grab us some food.” Killian said softly, barely brushing Emma’s shoulder as he headed toward the shack to put in his order. Henry hoped he’d get something for him as well. He’d been too nervous to eat the Pop Tarts he’d bought the girls for breakfast. Alice had been delighted, saying she’d always wanted to try them, and how her Papa wouldn’t consider them a nutritional breakfast. Hope had just taken one in silence, but gave a small smile, a thank you to Henry for buying her the S’mores flavor, which was her favorite.

The second Killian got in line for the food Emma was on him. “Did you know?” she asked, practically in tears. He wasn’t sure what reaction he was going to get from his mom, but this wasn’t it. 

“Did I know about what?” Henry asked, confused about the question, because he would’ve thought she would ask about Hope before anything else.

“About this place?” She looked nervous, more nervous than Henry’s ever seen her in his life, and he’s seen her face many evil villains. Henry’s look must convey his confusion. “That this was the place I was taken to when I was found as a baby?” 

Henry’s face immediately felt flushed. “I...I’m sorry, Mom, I...I didn’t know.” He felt like the biggest idiot on the planet. He’d chosen this place due to its proximity to Storybrooke. He’d never known she’d come out from the wardrobe just miles from where the Enchanted Forest denizens had been transported. No wonder she looked close to tears.

They sat in silence until Killian arrived back with a tray of multiple red baskets of food. He placed them on the center of the table along with some plasticware, napkins, and some bottles of water. Emma looked impressed at his ability to carry it all with only one functioning hand. Killian took a seat and looked at Emma, checking to see if she was alright. She nodded, and Henry wondered what occurred on their trip up here for them to already have that married conversation-in-their-heads thing happening.

“So, young man.” Killian said sternly, while trying to unfold a napkin and place it in his lap. Henry almost laughed, considering how thin the napkins were and how much they don’t want to come apart, but he kept a straight face because he knew this wasn’t a funny situation. “Are we getting an explanation for this little abduction of yours, or are you here to ask for a ransom?” He said it seriously, but Henry detected a bit of his old joviality. Emma put her head in her hands while Henry grabbed a hushpuppy from the food in front of him and stuffed it in his mouth to suppress a smile.

“Henry, what could have possessed you to take your sister and Killian’s daughter out of camp?” Emma asked, concerned. Henry can see the worry in her eyes, like she’s the one who messed up somehow. 

“Look,” Henry took a gulp of water to wash the rest of the food down. “It was inevitable once the girls met that they would have questions, so they called me.”

“And you have the answers,” Killian said. It was not a question. Henry nodded.

“What answers, Henry?” He could see his mother was trying to hold it together, be the stoic woman she always was. Hiding behind her walls. He wanted to reach out and soothe her like she had him for so many years, but he couldn’t. He had to be strong right now, he had to get them to understand, and he couldn’t do that if he had to comfort his mother as well.

“If you haven’t made the connection already, Hope and Alice look identical.” Both Emma and Killian nodded. “And it’s not some weird doppelganger situation where they just happen to look alike.” He paused, taking a deep breath. This reveal for the girls had been so much easier over the phone. “Hope and Alice are sisters. They’re twins.”

Both Emma and Killian stared at him, like the words that he had said didn’t make any sense, and he supposed they didn’t. He quickly continued.

“Your memories have been altered. Mom,” he said, finally taking her hand. “I know you think Neal is Hope’s father, but he was dead way before she was ever conceived. And Killian,” Henry turned toward him. “I know you think Milah was Alice’s mother, but she’s not. She hasn’t been around for a very long time.” Killian looked as though he wanted to shoot daggers at Henry, but didn’t say anything. “I know this is difficult to believe. It seems other-worldly, or magical, or something that is not based in reality. But it’s the truth.”

Emma stared at Henry, her mouth gaping open, her eyes filling with tears. He wasn’t sure if it was because she believed or she thought he was insane. Maybe a little of both, most likely the second one. Killian didn’t say anything for a moment. Henry knew he was probably processing the information Henry had just told him. 

“If who we think are the other parents in our lives aren’t, then who is Alice’s mother and Hope’s father?” Killian challenged.

Henry gave a wide smile. “You two are. You are Hope and Alice’s parents.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Her son had gone insane. It was the only possible explanation for what he was telling them. How could he possibly believe that she and Killian had borne twin girls and then simply, what, forgotten about it?

“Henry, this is completely insane.” Emma’s eyes were quickly filling with tears again. He must have had some kind of psychotic break. It was the only answer. Didn’t she read somewhere about men getting psychotic breaks in their 20’s?

“Mom, I’m not crazy. I swear. Look.” He grabbed down into his satchel and pulled out what looked to be a picture album. Henry took a deep breath before opening it up and when he did, Emma thought she might be the one going insane.

“These are...these are of us!” She said alarmed. She looked over at Killian who had furrowed his brow at the sight of the pictures.

Emma stared at the pictures of a much younger her and Killian. His hair was completely dark with not a hint of silver in it. And he was wearing a hook, a real hook. Not the hooked mechanism he wore now. And there seemed to be eyeliner around his eyes. They brought out the blue in his eyes so much more. She thought she might ask him to wear it again when this whole debacle was over with.

_ Whoa!  _ Where the hell had that thought come from. After this turn of events from Henry, she wasn’t even sure what was going on anymore. She continued to turn pages, Killian sometimes stopping her to look closer at some things. There were pictures of them sitting in a diner with another couple about their age with a small child. There were pictures of them setting up a house together. Killian stopped Emma from turning pages when they came across their wedding photos. Emma thought maybe she was the one going crazy now. There she was being walked down the aisle by that same couple, as if they were giving her away. There was Killian with the widest smile on his face and Emma giving him a matching one. Emma didn’t even think she’d ever smiled that widely in her life. Not even when Henry or Hope were born.

“We look so happy,” Killian whispered. 

The next few pages seemed to just be of happy moments between Killian, Henry and her. There they were sailing on what looked to be a pirate ship, others were at the diner again with that same couple, another one showed her and Killian showing off badges, hers saying Sheriff Swan-Jones: Storybrooke Sheriff’s Dept and his saying Deputy Jones: Storybrooke Sheriff’s Dept.

And then the pictures shifted to her pregnant. Every single picture had Killian touching her belly in some way. She instantly tried to recall the memories of Neal, but could only conjure a feeling of revulsion if he had tried to touch her while pregnant. Definitely not the happiness she was seeing in these photos of a happy, pregnant couple. Emma almost started crying when she saw pictures from a baby shower included in the mix. She was huge, standing under a sign that said “We can’t wait to meet you Alice and Hope!” She looked so young and carefree, Emma barely recognized herself. She looked like she was trying so hard to not smile, but the happiness just radiated off of her, she could practically feel it coming off the photo in waves.

The pictures then skipped to a hospital. Both she and Killian holding a baby and smiling ridiculously for the camera. If Emma thought the wedding photo pictures were the widest smiles she’d ever seen, these smiles blew those pictures out of the water. Emma could see Killian tearing up next to her as he looked at a picture of him holding baby Alice in his arms. His hook was not anywhere in these pictures, just his blunted arm holding his daughter to him as if she were the most precious treasure in the world.

There were pictures of the girls sleeping in their cribs. Pictures of a young Henry holding each girl. Family pictures of them all together, of the couple with their son, of a dark haired woman who barely cracked a smile, but seemed happy all the same. There were first baby smiles, and teeth, and food, and crawling, and steps, and all the things Emma thought she’d lost in the fire. But here it was, laid out in front of her, except that Killian was the father in these pictures and there was another identical baby.

They came to the end of the album, the last photos showed Alice and Hope’s second birthday. It seemed like a whole town’s worth of people were celebrating with them. So many people. Emma doesn’t even think she’s known that many people in her entire life. And then it’s done.

Both Emma and Killian looked at Henry, tears streaming down both their faces. Henry had been silent throughout the whole ordeal.

“How….? What….? Why….?” Emma couldn’t even start to express what she wanted to say. Her brain feels like it’s been overloaded with too much information, and she still hadn’t got any answers. She wanted to know where Hope was, and she wanted to go home, pull the covers over her head, and wake up to find out this was all a bad dream.

Emma looked over at Killian, wondering how he was dealing with all this and when had he taken her hand? She’d just realized that they were holding hands. He was holding onto her like she was an anchor keeping him tethered to the shore, and what was with the nautical thoughts? But she doesn’t take her hand away. It felt right, like they should be anchoring each other through all of, whatever this was. She’d never had someone just hold her hand and it feel so right.

“Where did these come from, lad?” Killian tightened his grip on her hand. They both looked up at Henry expectantly.

“They’re pictures, of your life, from before.” Henry said matter-of-factly.

“But,” Killian takes his hand from hers, vigorously rubbing his neck, “this isn’t my life. We don’t have another life. Emma and I never met until this morning!” 

“You just don’t remember.” Henry said calmly, almost as if he’d done this before, Emma notes. 

“You don’t just forget a life and make up a new one!” Killian growled, slamming the photo album shut.

Emma stared wide-eyed at both Killian and Henry. Killian was trying very hard to keep his composure while Henry smiled at them both. Emma wondered if this is what crazy felt like.

“Ahh, there’s the pirate coming out to play.” Henry grabbed a now cold french fry from the baskets that had been moved off to the side for the album. Killian turned to him, the snarled expression that had just been on his face falling by the wayside.

“Pirate?” He looked perplexed. “What, because of this?” He held up the apparatus on his hand. 

“Did you not see what you used to wear there?” Henry asked, almost amused.

“Lad,” Killan paused, taking a deep breath to calm himself, though Emma could still see his jaw ticking.” I don’t know where those pictures came from or what you paid someone to photoshop all these, but whatever elaborate ruse you have going on here, it needs to stop! I just want to know where Alice is. And your poor mum just wants Hope back.”

Grabbing one hand each, Henry looked at them.  _ Remember Operation Cobra _ he simply said. Her arms immediately broke out in goosebumps at that phrase. A brief flash of them walking down a small town street and him taking her apple and throwing it behind her. She pulled her hand away and put both of them to her head, shaking it to try and access more of what just crossed her mind, but there’s nothing. She heard him say something that sounds like  _ Remember Operation Light Swan _ to Killian and she saw a moment of recognition in his eyes, and it was just as fleeting as her..memory? Vision? She wasn’t exactly sure what just happened to be honest. 

Her mind shifted to thinking about Henry as a child, but the memories seemed hazy. Nowhere near as clear as the one she just had. Everything is flat, almost like she was looking at pictures with feelings attached, but no real depth behind them. Her vision blurred and she vaguely saw herself opening a door in an apartment she doesn’t recognize, with Henry on the other side. A tight, red dress that she would’ve worn in her younger days to catch a skip, but she didn’t remember owning it. _ I’m your son _ . But she raised him, he wouldn’t need to tell her that. Her vision cleared up, and she’s back at Chantey’s. Killian also looked like something strange had happened in his head. Emma’s not sure what was happening, but she was finally starting to wonder how much of what Henry has told them was the truth.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Killian had been growing increasingly wary of Henry’s sanity throughout their meeting. While he already seemed to trust Swan implicitly, her trust in Henry seemed to be woefully misplaced. He could see the growing concern on her face the more he went on about false memories and what not. But he could not explain the album.

One of the things he had regretted not being able to save in the fire that took his Milah and his hand, was the picture album that held his memories of his wife and his daughter’s early years. He knows there was one. He can remember looking at it with Milah when she told him she was pregnant. Remembered her smile when looking at their wedding photos. But as Swan flipped through the photo album Henry had put in front of them and he saw the pictures of them, the memories in his mind start failing him, becoming altered. Especially, when they come across what is supposed to be their wedding picture. If Alice had asked him about Milah’s wedding dress any other day, he would have said it looked exactly like the one in the picture he’s looking at right now. The high collar neck, the full-length, lace dress, the red lipstick. Except he and Milah didn’t have a large wedding. They were married by a Justice of the Peace. At a courthouse. She wouldn’t have worn something so extravagant. He’s almost positive they got married during his lunch break at work because he couldn’t even get the day off. So why was he so sure this picture was the real deal? Why did he recognize that smile coming from Emma in the picture? He touches it to make sure that what he’s looking at is real and not some weird delusion.

“We look so happy.” His voice sounded so small he almost didn't recognize it. He sneaked a quick peek at Swan and realized she’s just as awestruck and confused about these pictures as he is. He took her hand in his, but she doesn’t even seem to notice.

Killian frowned at the pictures of them as a sheriff and a deputy. Killian couldn’t imagine himself as law enforcement. He had always been too much of a loner, too much emptiness in his past. He’d always considered himself a good person, but he didn’t think he had it in him to carry a gun and chase down criminals. He was never one for violence. 

Soon there were pictures of Emma pregnant and he looked ecstatic. Again, in his mind he could swear he’d had pictures with Milah like this. Pictures of him kissing her belly and spinning her around. The pictures in his mind refuse to show him Milah’s face though, as if the pictures cut off everything above the shoulders, as if she were never really there. 

And then there were the pictures of them with two babies. Killian recognized some of them, he swore he had some of the ones that are of just him and Alice at the hospital, before the fire, but the ones with Emma and Hope? He can’t even fathom how someone could photoshop an entire life. More and more pictures of them together with two girls. 

Alice and Hope. 

Hope and Alice. 

Two babies. 

One Emma. 

He and Emma together. 

He and Emma and Henry and Alice and Hope together as a family.

They finally reached the end of the album and Killian was silently seething at this point. Emma was spluttering, trying to get out questions that she couldn’t seem to form. He couldn’t even begin to conceive what led Henry to do this.

“Where did these come from, lad?” He tightened his grip on Emma’s hand. She was the only thing keeping him tethered to his seat right now, knowing that if he let go of her hand he might actually throw a punch at her son. They both looked at him for concrete answers that they know he isn’t going to give.

“They’re pictures, of your life, from before.” Henry said as though this was common knowledge, which only added fuel to Killian’s anger. 

“But,” his hand left Emma’s, the loss already filling his chest. His hand automatically scratched behind his neck, an old nervous habit, because this whole situation just does not sit right, “this isn’t my life. We don’t have another life. Emma and I never met until this morning!” 

Henry sat back calmly, a hint of a smile before he said “You just don’t remember.”

“You don’t just forget a life and make up a new one!” He wanted to scream this at Henry, but they were in public and he couldn’t. He slammed the cover of the album shut instead, and winced internally at his petulance. Emma’s eyes widen at his almost outburst and he felt more ashamed even though he’s tried to keep the toughness in his face to intimidate Henry. How could anyone be expected to believe what Henry has dished out to them? It was absolutely ludicrous.

“Ahh, there’s the pirate coming out to play.” Henry popped a french fry in his mouth, and Killian felt like he was being mocked by how nonchalant Henry is being. His face fell at the pirate line. It’s something he’s always had to deal with once he became one handed, especially since he opted to wear a prosthetic hook instead of a hand. But it hurt that someone like Emma’s son would be so lackadaisical about it.

“Pirate? What, because of this?” He held it up to Henry, almost daring him to ridicule him again. 

“Did you not see what you used to wear there?” Yes, he had seen the pictures of him with a pirate’s hook. It was pretty hard to miss in every single picture.

“Lad,” He was trying to remember his breathing exercises from when he used to get anxiety attacks, because he was sure this conversation with Henry would definitely bring one on, especially if he didn’t get information on Alice soon. “I don’t know where those pictures came from or what you paid someone to photoshop all these, but whatever elaborate ruse you have going on here, it needs to stop! I just want to know where Alice is. And your poor mum just wants Hope back.”

Killian expected Henry to look remorseful, maybe even upset that his little game wasn’t working. Instead, Henry took a hand from each of them. He looked at them like they were the greatest two people in the world, a look he’s only ever seen from Alice. Henry looked over toward Emma and told her  _ Remember Operation Cobra _ which sounded utterly ridiculous. It obviously meant something to Emma though because the gooseflesh rose on her arms and she held her head as though she remembered something. 

Henry turned to him, still holding his hand and simply stated  _ Remember Operation Light Swan _ . Killian’s eyes widened because it sounded familiar. A faint vision of himself looking at a real estate listing in the paper with a young Henry. A house circled in red. Emma in a white dress with a white cloak. What the hell?

He wanted to demand Henry tell him where his daughter is when another vision slipped in front of his eyes. First it’s him and Milah holding Alice, but the picture is muted. The colors are off. Milah doesn’t look real. Her clothes look like she’s out of the Middle Ages. Then he’s holding her in his arms. He’s dressed in what can only be described as pirate gear, and she’s caressing his face, telling him that she loves him before her eyes close forever. But he never saw Milah die. He couldn’t get her out of the rubble. She was still calling for him when the firemen forced him down the stairs to get his severed arm looked at. But even that doesn’t seem right. Why can’t he remember the pain, the sorrow, the anguish that this recollection should bring. His memories are all scrambled and for the first time in his life, he’s really not sure what is real and what is the truth anymore.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
  


Henry could see that something was getting through to them. Both of them seemed lost in memories. He had hoped that the albums would trigger something in their brains. He remembered how his paper storybook had helped Emma believe when the Black Fairy had changed her memories. That’s all he needed right now, enough belief that they realized their past memories may not be how they remembered them. He had to give it to Gothel, at least they had something more than ‘for as long as I can remember’ like Regina had done. Emma had a fully fleshed out reunion with Neal and Killian had a whirl-wind romance with Milah. Trying to undo those memories was going to take time, so the photo album and a few choice words that wouldn’t make sense in any other context was what he was placing all his hope on. He remembered when he’d had his memories erased when they lived in New York. All of his past memories with Emma seemed like pictures in his mind, but that was all they were, snapshots and nothing else. He didn’t know memories were supposed to be any other way. Believing didn’t seem that hard when it came down to it because something hadn’t felt right. Storybrooke had felt right, even if he didn’t know why at the time (and the flying monkeys certainly helped). And the same type of emotions seemed to be happening right now if what was going on with Emma and Killian was any indication.

“Look,” Henry began, trying to figure out just the right words before continuing. “I know all of this is confusing. I know you don’t completely understand what is happening right now. But I do know one thing. I know you trust me, Mom.” Emma nodded at him. “And I know you already trust each other.” Emma looked over at Killian and he nodded as well. “Then I need you to believe in me. Can you believe in me?”

The patio held a deafening silence while Henry waited for their answers. It felt like it was hours before they answered his question, even though Henry knew it was only a few seconds. They both answered at the same time.

“Yes.”

“Aye.”

Henry smiled. “Then let’s reunite you with Hope and Alice.”

  
  
  



	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter guys! This chapter was hard. So hard. I rewrote part of it yesterday, and it was hard. But it's where I want it to be now, and I think you'll all be pleased.
> 
> Thank you to my betas, profdanglais and recoveringthesatellites for all their help with this chapter because I really needed it.
> 
> Don't forget to check out the artwork on Tumblr by gingerchangeling as well.

Killian thought Emma would ride over to the campsite with Henry in his Prius, but she got back into his Jeep and rode with him instead. They were silent for most of the ride over until Emma took his hand. She didn’t hold it, but instead looked at it, traced over the lines.

“I’m not a touchy-feely type of person,” she stated as she continued to look at his hand. “The foster homes were not a great environment for hugs and kisses. More of a defend-yourself situation from mean foster siblings or violent foster fathers.” She paused and took a deep breath. Killian desperately wished he could look at her, convey that he understood, but he had to keep his eyes on the road. “With Neal, unless it was part of the con, he barely touched me in public. I look back on that now and realize how desperate I must have been for love to be in a relationship where touching wasn’t part of it unless it was in bed, or mainly a car in our case.” She grimaced slightly at that. “But when I’m with you, it’s like I’m not afraid anymore. I want your hand holding mine, brushing against the small of my back, pushing my hair off my shoulder. It just feels right. Doesn’t it feel right?”

Killian knew he had to tread lightly, so as not to scare her off, although they were in a car so it’s not like she could go anywhere. He still couldn’t take his eyes off the road to look at her and to tell her he felt exactly the same way. Instead, he smiled slightly and just said ‘Aye.” She took his hand and held it the rest of the way until they reached the campsite.

The sound of their cars on the gravel outside the tent had the girls scrambling out and running into their respective parents’ arms. 

“Papa!” Alice flew into Killian’s arms and practically knocked him over as he barely made it out of the car.

“Oh, Starfish.” He sniffled. “Are you alright? You’re not hurt?” Killian checked her over looking for any bruising or cuts. Alice brushed him off with a scoff.

“Of course not, silly. Henry would never hurt me. He’s my brother.” She said it so matter-of-factly that it stunned Killian. He looked into her face looking for any trace of doubt in what she had just said, but he didn’t see any. His sweet Alice, always so trusting. He hoped that her trust wasn’t falsely placed.

“Hey mom.” Hope gave a small wave. Killian could see she acted as if being taken from sleepaway camp by her brother and made to camp out in the Maine forest was an everyday occurrence. Hope was definitely more reserved than his Alice. Where Alice was all smiles and hugs, Hope seemed to be trying to put a wall around herself. To show that she was mature, and that what had just happened wasn’t such a big deal. He was sure she’d got that from her mother, even though he hadn’t seen that side of Emma in the short time they’d known each other. Or was it, as Henry said, because he knew her from before and just didn’t remember?

‘Hope!’ Emma ran from the passenger side door of the Jeep and almost knocked her down, just as Alice had done with him. “Henry took you on quite an adventure, didn’t he?” Emma said with a watery smile. Hope’s face fell for a moment into a look that seemed as if she were about to burst into tears, but then she composed herself and just nodded her head.

“Mom?” Hope said so quietly that Killian almost didn’t hear her. “I’m worried about Henry.” Emma held her tighter. Killian could understand. The things Henry had told them should not be possible, but he and Emma couldn’t deny the picture album, nor the visions that had surfaced.

“I think,” Emma said hesitantly, “I think we might need to hear Henry out on this. I’m not sure what exactly is happening here, but we need to keep an open mind before we make any major decisions or judgements.” Emma finished. Hope’s eyes widened as if she couldn’t believe what her mother had just said. It was obvious to Killian that Hope didn’t believe all the nonsense Henry was spewing like his Alice did. And like it seemed Emma might. Killian was still on the fence. The picture album had been pretty damning, but he still couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that it would mean all his memories were a lie. This situation that they were all in was a tricky one.

Hope pulled away from her mother, confusion written all over her face. She looked at Emma, then at Alice, then at himself, before she finally drew her gaze over to Henry. Her face had quickly gone from its natural state to practically purple in an instant.

“I don’t know what bullshit story Henry has been feeding you.” Hope started yelling. Killian saw warring emotions on Emma’s face. She immediately wanted to comfort her daughter, but at the same time she also wanted to give her the space to work out whatever was going on in her own head. “But this whole thing is ridiculous. Mom, you would know if you gave birth to twins. You would know Alice’s father if you did. You wouldn’t lie to me about who my father was all these years.” Hope’s voice had started wavering as her strong facade started crumbling. Both Emma and Henry instinctually started towards Hope to comfort her.

But it wasn’t Emma or Henry who got to Hope first. It was Alice who pulled away from him and ran to the girl who she was convinced was her sister. She tentatively stepped toward Hope and put her arm on her shoulder, just to show her that she was there. Hope expressed her surprise at Alice coming to reassure her, almost pulling away immediately. Killian stood fascinated, watching his daughter try to comfort this other girl who looked exactly like her yet was so different.

“Please let me help you.” Alice said so softly that Killian was surprised he could hear it. Hope barely gave an affirmative nod before Alice enveloped her in a hug. 

A stillness went through the woods. No wind sang through the trees. No birds chirped or animals chattered. Killian wondered if he’d temporarily gone deaf, although there was no reason for that. He was about to ask what was happening, wondered if Emma and Henry were hearing this strange phenomena too, when Hope finally returned Alice’s hug and a whoosh of light burst from between them.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Emma suddenly found herself on the ground along with Killian and Henry. Killian seemed just as shocked as she was, but Henry, well, Henry was grinning as if it were Christmas morning. The stillness that had surrounded the woods before the girls’ hug was gone and replaced with a cacophony of sound. Emma felt like she was in the middle of a war zone.

“What the hell was that?” Emma cried out. She got up to check and see if whatever that force had been had affected the girls at all. Hope and Alice had separated from their hug. Alice had a smile that stretched across her entire face and looked extremely giddy, while Hope looked completely stupefied, as if she couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry over the strange occurrence.

“Henry?” Emma yelled behind her as she ran over to the girls, but stopped short when she saw the sparks of light coming from their fingers. She briefly wondered if lightning had somehow struck near them and this was a weird side-effect from being too close, but scanning the sky, there wasn’t a single cloud near them. It was a serene blue. 

_ “Love is strength.” _

“Mom?” Hope’s voice was eerily high pitched. Emma recognized it as the one reserved for haunted houses or airplane rides (Hope was a terrible flier). “Would someone please explain what is happening to me right now?” Hope said getting even more hysterical. Both Emma and Killian started towards the girls. Emma couldn’t even fathom how she could explain this away. 

“This is amazing!” Alice exclaimed as she watched the pale pink sparks coming from her fingertips. Emma couldn’t help but laugh at the girls' different reactions to whatever was happening. Alice continued to pinch her fingers together and watched the sparks get longer and shorter the farther away and closer her fingers got. Meanwhile, Hope was trying to brush the sparks off onto her shorts, as if they would magically go away.

_ Magic! _ That’s exactly what it seemed like to Emma. Like there was magic coming from their fingertips. But that wasn’t possible, magic wasn’t real. 

_ Henry was lying in a hospital bed. He wouldn’t wake up. She’d been convinced he was poisoned by his mother. “But I’m his mother.” Emma thought. She was rummaging through his backpack trying to find something, anything that would attest to his collapse. The doctor was telling her that it couldn’t be something he ate. And then Henry’s book fell out of his backpack. “But he just published that. How could he have it as a little boy?” And she knew. She knew that magic had to exist. The second she touched the book she was assaulted with memories. Her parents in a castle? Fighting black guards? Putting her in a tree? And then she simply knew that Henry was telling the truth and magic was real. _

“Magic is real.” Emma said so softly she wasn’t sure it wasn’t just in her head. But Killian turned toward her.

“What was that, love?” 

She thought her voice might betray her, because repeating the revelation again was so ridiculous. And yet, she knew, without a shadow of a doubt that it was the truth.

“Magic is real.” She stated. Emma looked into Killian’s eyes, begging him to believe her. Begging him to not think she was as insane as Henry had sounded to them. He stared back at her, searching her face for any hint of irony or humor. He looked back at the girls with the pink still sparking from their fingers, and then back at Emma.

_ “I’m a fan of every part of you.” _

“Aye” He replied. “I think you might be right.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was Henry who interrupted the moment between them. 

“I didn’t think that could happen outside of Storybrooke!” Henry said, obviously excited about this new development.

The name Storybrooke sounded familiar to Killian. He couldn’t figure out why though. He’d never been to any place with that name that he could recall. It sounded like a perfect place for Henry’s fantasies, although he was beginning to wonder how much of Henry’s fantasies were in fact true, what with his daughter and supposed twin sparking electricity from their fingers.

“You didn’t think what could happen outside of Storybrooke?” Emma asked, her face twisted in confusion.

“Magic!’ Henry announced as though it was obvious. “I mean, I’ve only seen one magical thing happen outside of Storybrooke, but those were special circumstances, and partially caused by multiple wishes.” Henry ran his hand through his hair in a way that was similarly eerie to the way Alice was currently running her hand through her hair, which Killian had been told was akin to the way he ran his hand through his hair. And now that he was really looking, he could see a slight resemblance between them. Nothing he could put his finger on. The curve of the lip. The rise of the cheekbones. The arch of the brow. All features he’d assumed come from Milah. 

_ A reptilian man stood before him. He wanted Milah, but he wouldn’t let this creature take her. She was dressed in what looked to be lady pirate gear? Her long, dark hair down around her shoulders and not the ponytail he recalled her favoring. He was also dressed like a pirate, complete with a high collared leather duster and a sword. And they were on a pirate ship! He knew this as well as he knew himself. The reptilian man was getting more and more angry at Milah, yelling at her, berating her. She was trying to calm him down but the man (imp?) was growing more and more irate with her. He finally reached into Milah’s chest! Killian tried to run to them, tried to save her, but the man, the Dark One, threw him with magic against a mast and tied him there with ropes. He finally managed to free himself with a rigging hook, but it was too late. The Dark One had taken his Milah’s heart. She fell into his arms and looked up at him with those beautiful blue eyes that he loved, eyes that he always thought Alice had inherited from her, and told Killian that she loved him. Then the Dark One crushed her heart before Killian could tell her he loved her back, and she was gone. _

Henry still looked as gleeful as ever as Killian came back from the scene that had flitted before his eyes. Emma had gone over to the girls and was looking at their hands that were still sparking. His mind couldn’t quite comprehend what was happening. Magic wasn’t real. It wasn’t real.

Was it?

Killian had always prided himself on being practical. While he tried to create for Alice every fairy tale and fantasy she enjoyed (he would buy her fairy tale dresses and pretend to be the evil villain she would save herself from), he knew that those things weren’t real. He knew that wishing on a star or praying to a deity didn’t make miracles happen. He’d known that ever since he lost Milah in that fire. Or had he?

Between whatever had happened with the girls, the photo album that Henry had shown him and Emma, and the visions (or possibly memories) that were flashing unbidden through his mind, Killian wasn’t sure what to think anymore. But he did know, without a shadow of a doubt, that something was not right.

His mind was warring with him over what he knew to be the truth and what seemed to be pure fantasy. The more he tried to remember his past, the more these new visions danced in his head.

_ He was buried underneath a mass of bodies. All dead except for him. He was waiting for the one called The Savior. He knew she would come. Cora had promised (Cora? Why did that name seem familiar to him?). Knew she couldn’t resist saving a handsome scoundrel like himself. He put on his best act of playing the scared blacksmith who just happened to have hidden under bodies to avoid being killed by Cora. But she saw through him immediately. He could barely get a lie out before she had a knife to his throat. And while most men would find this intimidating, he always did love a challenge. _

“Enough!” Killian shouted. Henry, who had been looking at the girls’ hands stared at him with wide eyes at his outburst. Hope had a slight bit of fear behind her already terror-stricken eyes, but Alice just huffed and glowered at him the way only a teenage daughter could. The blood was pounding in his ears, there was too much going on. Between the possibility of magic, his memories being false, and the visions that popped into his head, his head felt like it was about to burst. 

He was angry. 

_ “Have I told you a lie?” _

Angry that his once simple life was no longer simple.

_ “Look out for yourself and you’ll never get hurt, right” _

Angry that his memories were betraying him.

_ “Perhaps there’s a man that you loved in the life that you lost.” _

Angry that he was unable to control himself in front of Emma with his outburst.

_ “I’m going to choose to see the best in you.” _

Angry that he couldn’t control his anger around Alice, when he’d always been the calm one.

_ “You have to let me go, let me die a hero.” _

  
  


Emma was suddenly in front of him, and her hands were on his shoulders. Her touch was feather light, but just the nearness of her helped to quell the anger that simmered within him. He lifted his head and unexpectedly stared into her eyes, emerald with flecks of hazel. “It’s going to be alright, Killian.” She whispered as she practically stared into his soul. A sense of calm flooded through him at her words, and then suddenly it was. Just her voice and touch calmed him, like she’d done it a million times before. Had she? It just felt right, like she had said in the car ride over. Could Henry be telling the truth and he and Emma had once been a happy couple in a different life?

Emma believed that magic was real and he’d agreed. Why?

Killian peered past Emma to see the girls and Henry in a hug. Alice lapped up the attention, but Hope still looked concerned about the events that had just transpired. Their fingers no longer flickered with the pink electricity.

Henry separated himself from the girls and pulled out a slightly flattened scroll from his pants pocket. Hope eyed it suspiciously while Alice looked like she was going to explode. Her whole body vibrated with excitement over the scrap of paper.

“Is that what I think it is?” She asked, her hands under her chin. They rubbed furiously in anticipation. “Is that the Snow Queen Scroll from the sequel?” Her voice was reaching dog hearing only status with her enthusiasm, something that Killian heard from her often since she got excited very easily. But Killian had no idea what a Snow Queen Scroll was or how it pertained to their current situation.

“Oh, Alice!’ Henry sighed in contentment. “I’m so glad you really paid attention to my book. Yes it is.” She beamed at him.

“Ok, Henry. Enough of the theatrics. Let’s load up the girls and head home. We can call the camp and the police on the way back and let them know this was all a big misunderstanding.” Emma said, as she gathered Hope in her arms.

“NO!!” Both Henry and Alice screamed.

Their screams startled Killian. Henry he might have thought would object to them leaving, but Alice? Emma looked stunned that Henry wasn’t going along with her plan. And Hope, well, Hope looked royally pissed off.

“What is wrong with you?” Hope screamed. Killian noticed that she was directing her anger toward Henry and not at Alice. “We played your little game! We left camp! We stayed in the woods! We read your books! You still haven’t explained anything about anything that’s rational! What else could you possibly have to tell us that would make us stay out here in the middle of nowhere?” She knelt on the dirt road with her head in her hands and tried to stifle the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes.

They all turned to Henry for an explanation. Out of all of them, it seemed Hope was the least open to magic as an answer. Henry opened his mouth, but before he could even get a syllable out, Alice grabbed the scroll from his hand and opened it

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alice hadn’t been sure that Hope would accept her hug, but she went to her anyway. To her twin. Her sister. Her missing half. She knew Hope still found this whole situation crazy, but Alice knew that it was right. Felt it in the depths of her soul.

“Please let me help you.” Alice whispered. Hope was very skittish right now, she knew with animals you had to speak softly so as not to scare them off, and that’s exactly how Hope was acting right now, so Alice felt the same principles applied.

Hope nodded and Alice wrapped her arms around her in a hug.

“I love you.” Alice said softly into Hope’s ear and barely touched her lips to her cheek. Hope melted into her at the words.

“I love you too.” She said, returning the hug.

And then the world exploded.

A burst of light that seemed to come from within them burst from them, and Alice knew exactly what that meant.

She knew that it meant that despite Hope’s reluctance about the situation and insistence that magic didn’t exist, that part of her believed. Otherwise, True Love’s Kiss (yes, with all the capitals) wouldn’t have worked.

The burst of magic had separated them, and Alice could see the look of utter confusion that clouded her sister’s face. Alice could not have been happier. The moment she had found out the truth from Henry’s book she had wondered if she and Hope held magic in their veins. If their mother had magic because Snow and Charming were True Love, then it held true that she and Hope must have it since the book had said they’d been proven to be True Love in the Underworld (the fact that her Papa had once died and then been brought back by the Greek God Zeus himself was one of the few revelations from the book that she had trouble wrapping her head around). Plus, how else were she and Hope supposed to defeat a descendent from Gaia without magic? Maybe that’s why Zeus had brought him back? And speaking of her Papa, Alice could see that he looked awful worried about what was going on.

Pale pink sparks were now emanating from her fingertips, similar to the pictures of Emma wielding her magic in Henry’s book. “This is amazing!” Alice stretched her fingers, watching the electricity shorten and expand like slime. It was the most amazing thing she had ever seen in her life. Her whole body now hummed with the addition of the magic, and while Alice had thought finding out she had a twin, plus a brother and a mother who was still alive would make her feel complete, the magic that had now bubbled up inside her felt like the final piece of the puzzle falling into place.

Hope did not look happy about the fact that she had magic radiating from her. The panic in her eyes made it obvious to Alice that Hope was clearly terrified about what was happening. And Alice almost had to laugh as Hope tried to wipe her magic off on her shorts. It was coming from within them, it wasn’t something that could be hidden. It was as much a part of them as their blue eyes and blonde hair.

“I didn’t think that could happen outside of Storybrooke!” Alice heard Henry exclaim. From what she’d read in Henry’s book, she hadn’t thought it could happen here either. But Alice had always known the world worked in mysterious ways. Why else would she have drawn pictures of people from Henry’s storybook before finding out that they were people from her past? How else would she and Hope have been randomly brought together at a sleepaway camp of all places? The stars had all seemed to align for them to meet and to be together at this particular place where their magic could surface in the ‘real world’. Emma had finally made it over to them and was gingerly inspecting their hands, as if she would find some explanation for why magic was suddenly appearing in them. Henry bounded over to get a closer look as well.

Alice turned toward her Papa, excited to show him the magic, to show him that this was real, but he seemed to be staring at something that wasn’t there. Something that made him look confused in one moment, then angry in the next. Henry had told them that when he told their parents the truth it might bring up some memories, but how they perceived them could confuse them. No doubt her Papa was seeing something from his past that didn’t seem like it was in the possibility of what he considered real. She could only imagine how disoriented it must be making him feel.

“Enough!” Papa shouted, and Alice couldn’t help shooting him a look that told him she did not approve of this outburst. He was supposed to be the calm one. But then she noticed the anger sweeping over his face. He reminded her of a volcano right before it was about to burst. Alice knew that this could lead to a panic attack, something she hadn’t seen from him in years. Suddenly, the magic coming from her hands was not as important as helping her Papa before he went over the edge.

But then Emma stepped forward. Alice could see the anger draining away and his body relaxing under Emma’s touch. In that moment, Alice knew, without a doubt, that these two were True Loves and even a curse that made them forget each other could never sever the connection that they had (so take that Gothel).

An arm reached around her, pulling her into a side hug as Henry squeezed her as tight as he could. Hope was on his other side getting the same treatment. Alice sighed in contentment; so this is what it felt like to have a brother.

Henry’s hug seemed to have calmed the magic down, though Alice could still feel it just under her skin. He pulled out a flattened piece of parchment tied together with a faded, red ribbon. Her ebullience about what that piece of parchment was and what it meant made her all aflutter. If Henry was pulling that out here it meant Storybrooke was here.

“Is that what I think it is?” Alice couldn’t keep her hands still. She tucked them under her chin, but the prospect of being this close to a place she’d only thought was part of a fantasy book only a few days ago had her bursting at the seams. “Is that the Snow Queen Scroll from the sequel?”

  
  


Henry confirmed that it was. It was here! Storybrooke was here!

“Ok, Henry. Enough of the theatrics. Let’s load up the girls and head home. We can call the camp and the police on the way back and let them know this was all a big misunderstanding.” Emma said, as she gathered Hope in her arms. Hope who, regardless of everything she had just seen, still would not allow herself to fully believe.

“NO!!” Alice screamed. And she realized that Henry had yelled it too.

And that’s when Hope lost it. “We played your little game! We left camp! We stayed in the woods! We read your books! You still haven’t explained anything about anything that’s rational! What else could you possibly have to tell us that would make us stay out here in the middle of nowhere?” She screamed and ranted and raved before she fell to her knees and tried not to let out all her anger in the form of tears.

Everyone looked to Henry for something resembling reason and Alice knew that if she didn’t take this chance the adults might stop things before Henry could do what he intended with the scroll. Before he could even attempt to get a word out, Alice snatched the scroll from his hands, opened it, and eagerly anticipated the results as she noticed a ripple in the air ahead of her.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope could hear Henry laughing and it was making her even angrier than she already was. He was laughing at her. She couldn’t believe she’d gone along with this crazy scheme. She’d listened to Henry. She’d listened to him go on and on about fairytales being real. She’d stood by while Alice lapped up all the nonsense about them being twins and being separated by a curse. Hope read his damn stories looking for any clue as to what was really happening. She had assumed the stories were a metaphor for whatever had really happened. But Alice and Henry were talking about them like they were the absolute truth. Which couldn’t be true. Magic wasn’t real. Fairytales weren’t real.

She realized that no one had spoken a word after her rant. She was surprised. Her mother should have been comforting her. Or possibly yelling at Henry for upsetting his sister. Or telling him how ridiculous all this was. Or making him apologize to Alice and her father for dragging them into his delusion. But there was nothing, just silence.

Hope finally lifted her head from her hands and saw everyone staring at the road ahead. When they had driven up, Hope had thought it strange that Henry had decided on this spot to camp. There weren’t any facilities around. They were literally in the middle of nowhere. The only object marking the spot was a large boulder on the left side of the road. Except now when Hope looked toward that boulder, two signs sat on either side of the road. On one side was obviously the back of a sign, but on the other, opposite from the boulder, with a red line running in between, was a large white sign that said “Welcome to Storybrooke”.

And now, Hope was wondering if she had finally joined Henry in his insanity.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this is a day late, but I had a tough time with this one too. My characters would not cooperate. Its like they have minds of their own. This is the shortest chapter, but a lot happens, so I think you all will be happy about it.
> 
> Thanks again to my betas, profdanglais and recoveringthesatellites for helping through my writers block with this chapter.
> 
> Don't forget to check out the artwork on Tumblr by gingerchangeling.

Everyone was staring at the dirt road and the signs that had just appeared before them. Henry had never been so happy to have everyone else see the Welcome to Storybrooke sign in his life. 

“Henry?” Hope’s voice sounded small. Her eyes were wide in disbelief about what she was seeing. Who wouldn’t be when a random town sprung up right in front of you? “Where did those signs come from?” She couldn’t take her eyes off of them. The blue irises flitted back and forth between the welcome sign and the unmistakable back of the leaving sign.

“It worked!” Answered Alice in awe! “It actually worked! I can’t believe Storybrooke is actually real!” 

But it was his mother and father’s reactions that Henry was most interested in. 

They both stood there astonished at what had appeared before them. Emma’s brow had furrowed as if trying to make sense of everything, even though she’d admitted just moments ago that magic might be real. Killian looked almost frustrated, like there had to be some explanation as to why the signs for a town had just appeared from thin air.

“Can we go in?” Alice was bouncing up and down excitedly. Henry knew she wanted to see the town she’d just read about in Henry’s book. Meet the people. Meet her family.

“We can, but you need to remember that we won’t be recognized. Gothel’s curse erased us from their memory. The Evil Queen adopting me and Emma being the Savior is not what they remember.”

Emma and Killian both looked at Henry with a questioning look on their faces. Right, he’d told them that their memories had been altered, but hadn’t gone into detail about the fact that the town was inhabited by fairy tale characters. Of course they’d think him mad when talking about things like the Evil Queen.

“What do they think happened?” Alice asked, not picking up on the adults strange looks.

“From what I could gather, it’s just a sleepy town in Maine. No magic, no curse, just people living their lives.” Henry stated sadly.

“You’ve been back.” Alice stated, it was not a question. Henry nodded.

“I’ve been back about once a year. There’s been no signs that they know who I am or that I used to reside here.” He said morosely, remembering how he had walked down the main drag only a month after they’d left to see the havoc Gothel had left behind, and had found just the normal, idyllic town that he’d grown up in with no magic or fairy tale characters to speak of. “They just think I’m a writer who comes here for the peace and quiet of small town life to write.” Alice patted him on the back and smiled sadly at him.

“Henry!” Three voices shouted at him in unison startling both himself and Alice, who had also seemed to have forgotten that there were somewhat non-believers in their midst.

“Um,” Henry began, not really sure where to start, “so, welcome to Storybrooke.” He spread his arms as if welcoming them to his home and gave a nervous smile. 

“Storybrooke?” Emma asked wide-eyed. She studied the sign, as if it might tell her something more than the name of the town.

“Look. There’s a lot to explain.” Henry said heading over to the campsite which was situated next to the large boulder right next to the now unveiled border. “Mom. Killian. If you two will follow me in Killian’s car, I’ll take the girls in mine and I know a little bed and breakfast we can stay at where, I promise, I’ll explain everything.” He looked over at his mom and father who were still looking at the sign with a mixture of awe and disbelief and they both nodded. Emma’s mouth was still agape. He’d seen this look from her a few times, most famously when they’d walked in on his grandparents ‘napping’ after Emma and Snow had returned from the Enchanted Forest. That look of shock and disbelief. When Henry had figured out why she was so appalled years later, well, let’s just say tacos had a much different meaning after that. Killian’s mouth was in a straight line, and his jaw set off his tell-tale tick that there was something going on that frustrated him. Henry used to see it all the time when trying to explain a piece of technology that he didn’t understand. Henry’s heart almost ached at the notion that they would never again have that type of bonding conversation, the memories in his brain having filled in all the gaps he didn’t know about before.

Before either parent could object, Alice had already grabbed Hope’s hand and dragged her into Henry’s car. Henry made a beeline for the driver side door, and made a mental note to come back for the camping gear once everyone was settled in later tonight.

He took a deep breath before crossing over the border, even though he’d made this trip before. He now had his sisters with him and his parents following. It was finally happening!

  
  
  


\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What was even her life? 

A few days ago, Hope had been a blissfully ignorant 13, almost 14-year-old, just enjoying life at camp, and having a rivalry between herself and her doppelganger. And now, apparently, she was one half of a cursed twin set, destined to take down an evil sorceress. Because there was really no denying it now that the Welcome to Storybrooke sign was blatantly staring her in the face. There was no way this could all be some elaborate hoax. Henry definitely didn’t have the resources to pull off something like this. The only explanation for it was magic. And if there was truly magic, then everything else he’d told her about their past over the last few days had to be the truth as well. And the magic that had come from her fingertips helped solidify everything as well.

  
  


It was real. Storybrooke was real. And Hope had no idea what to do with that information.

They wound their way towards the town, and for a moment, Hope wondered if she’d imagined the signs and the red line showing them the border of the town, but as they drove down the wooded road, Hope started to see signs of life around them. A random house here or there hidden in the trees. Laundry hanging on clotheslines. And then there it was, right in front of them. 

Storybrooke.

Hope wasn’t sure what she was expecting. Henry’s book had described it as an idyllic, little seaside town, with a bed and breakfast, and a few diners and restaurants. And that’s exactly what seemed to pop up in front of them. People were milling around the main street, going about their business, reading newspapers, staring at their phones. It looked like any little town. 

Except that Hope could now feel magic in the air. A buzzing and thrumming under her skin that made her fingers itch. And while it had felt suffocating when outside of Storybrooke, it now felt right, like it had always been a part of her.

She supposed it always had.

They stopped in front of Granny’s Diner (looking exactly as Henry had described it). Alice looked completely stunned and shocked, as if all her dreams had just come true. The wide smile overtook her face again, and Hope couldn’t help but give a small smile too. She could only imagine how she would feel having a fantasy world come to life in front of her eyes.

Her mother and Killian (her father?) pulled up beside them. They too looked in shock when they exited the Jeep.

“I know this place.” Emma said, looking slightly dazed. Killian came around the Jeep to her and Hope noticed that he subtly took her hand in his. He looked up at the Granny’s Diner sign and then through the window.

“Aye, love,” He closed his eyes and brought his hand over them, as if he couldn’t believe the next words that were going to come out of his mouth, “it seems to have some familiarity for myself as well.” He brought his hand down and glanced over at them before he said, “Well, shall we go in?”

Hope wasn’t sure what to expect. Henry had just said that no one remembered their family because of the curse, but she had expected maybe a small amount of recognition since they were all together. But there was absolutely no recognition in their eyes except toward Henry.

“Henry, my boy!” Greeted Granny as they all took a seat in a booth opposite the bar. “My favorite author! Who are all these adoring fans of yours?” She teased as she shuffled around and handed them menus.

“Granny, these lovely people are my family. My mother, Emma Swan-Jones,” Emma gave a slightly startled look at that, but had apparently decided to just roll with it as she gave a meek wave, “my step-father, Killian Jones,” Killian also seemed a little taken aback about being referred to as Henry’s step-father, but nodded in acknowledgement, “and my sisters, Alice and Hope.” Alice gave a wide smile at being called Henry’s sister. Hope felt a little weird about the fact that she was with who Henry said was her family for the first time in what was apparently her hometown. Granny smiled at them all as she handed them menus and turned to go back to other customers.

Hope scanned over the people in the restaurant. We’re they all fairy tale characters? Would she recognize who they were supposed to be? It seemed like any ordinary diner in any ordinary town. 

“The baby shower was in here.” Her mother suddenly said in awe. Killian raised an eyebrow in question. “In the picture.” She explained. “We can’t wait to meet you Alice and Hope! It was right there over the bar. And, there were presents piled on the table right there in front.” Killian frowned. Hope realized that his downturned mouth looked very similar to Alice’s, which meant it looked like hers.

“I don’t remember the present table from the pictures.” He said.

“They weren’t.” Henry said. “That’s purely from your memory, mom.” He grinned at her. 

Granny came back at that point to take orders. “I’ll take the lasagna and a side salad, and this one here will take the grilled cheese and onion rings,” he said referring to Emma. Hope and Henry looked at them, neither Killian nor Emma seemed to notice that Killian had just ordered for Emma, and, as Hope and Henry knew, had ordered her favorite meal. The rest of them ordered. Henry made some light conversation, asking Alice and Killian questions about their lives. Killian seemed a little reluctant to answer. Hope could tell he was just as wary as she was about this whole situation, despite the evidence laid before them. Alice was like a puppy dog, lapping up the attention and giving out answers to Henry’s questions without a care in the world. Hope snuck a look at her mother who still seemed to be awestruck about being in Storybrooke. Hope could tell that she seemed to recognize things around her, but it was getting stuck, like it was right at the surface trying to break through. It wasn’t until their orders came that her mother finally realized what had happened with the order.

“Grilled cheese with onion rings?” She asked softly, staring at the food like it was going to disappear in front of her.

“Sorry, Swan.” Killian said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t think I even realized I ordered for you. If you don’t want it I’m sure that…” And then suddenly her mother, someone Hope had never even seen in the presence of another man, grabbed Killian’s shirt collar, and kissed the holy hell out of him. And Hope’s head felt like it was going to explode.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_ “Maybe you’re the one who couldn’t handle it.” _

_ “You traded your ship for me?” “Aye” _

_ “Be patient.” “I have all the time in the world.” _

_ “If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s surviving.” _

The moment Emma’s lips touched his, a myriad of memories of them kissing overwhelmed him. This was definitely not a first kiss type of kiss. 

He knew the way her lips felt pressed to his. 

Knew the way she tasted. 

Knew the way his fingers felt running through her hair. 

Knew….that they were in the middle of the diner where Alice, Hope, and Henry were watching them, dammit! 

He pulled away feeling slightly dazed, even shaking his head slightly as he saw Emma smiling at him. A light bulb above them abruptly popped and glass filtered down, just barely missing their table. Emma shook her head as if realizing what she had just done, and her expression went from sheer joy to horrified in a matter of seconds.

“I’m...I’m sorry. Excuse me.” Emma grabbed her purse and ran toward the restrooms. Killian wanted to go after her, but he knew that she needed time and space to process what had just happened. Besides, he couldn’t go into the restroom after her. He looked over at the girls and saw Hope staring at the broken light bulb and then at her hands and Killian realized what had happened before Hope completely comprehended it. With Emma in the bathroom and Henry and Alice whispering to each other over the kiss that had just happened (at least he assumed that’s what they were smiling and giggling about), Killian took it upon himself to scoot over toward Hope and talk to her. He wasn’t sure what the best approach to talking to her was. Hope was prickly like her mother, but she was also a teenager like his Alice. 

“Not a fan of the light bulb there, Hope?” He asked, his voice full of what he hoped was humor. She looked up at him, her eyes slightly watery. The fact that she looked so much like Alice made his heart ache. The fact that they were twins was still hard for him to grasp, but that’s not what he needed to be thinking about right now. Hope was the one hurt and confused right now.

“I didn’t mean to.” She said softly, probably the softest Killian had heard her since he’d met her (considering she’d been mainly screaming at Henry). A tear spilled down over her cheek and Killian hesitated slightly before making the decision to brush it from her face.

“I’m sure you didn’t Sta…”  _ Nope, not his Starfish _ . “Sweetheart.” He said, correcting himself. “This.” He sighed not even sure what ‘this’ was. “This is all new for all of us. Well, maybe not Henry, he seems to know an abundance more about all of ‘this’ than the rest of us.” He smiled, hoping it wouldn’t scare her. Hope gave a sigh laced with a small laugh.  _ Thank goodness. _ Killian thought to himself. No point in scaring both the Swan women.

“It’s just, well, I guess you’re my dad.” Hope said, a point that Killian knew deep in his heart was true, but he still was having some trouble believing. “And all my life I’ve pretty much heard what a bas...a jerk Neal was, and so knowing that my actual father is a villain turned hero is going to take a bit getting used to. Plus, I’ve never seen my mom kiss a guy before.” Killian released a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. He was sure that Emma had not been celebate all these years, he certainly hadn’t been, but nothing more than a one-night stand here or there. But just like Emma had apparently never brought any men home, he had never brought any women around to Alice. He’d never felt in his heart that any of those women were worth bringing into his daughter’s life, and now he knew why. 

“Look, Hope. I know this is going to be anomalous, er, abnormal. And I can’t say what exactly is happening between your mother and myself. We seem to be getting bits and pieces of what I think are memories, but we still don’t have the whole picture. And what just happened now was not something either of us were expecting. But if you’re not happy about it or want to talk about it, please don’t feel ashamed to do so. But I think you may want to talk to Henry about figuring out how to control your…” He could not bring himself to say magic yet, “your abilities.” Yes, abilities sounded much better than magic. Hope nodded and turned to her food taking a bite of the soup she had ordered. 

Killian dug into the now cooled and congealed lasagna and the soggy side salad. The lasagna still tasted delicious, but he kept looking over at Emma’s grilled cheese and onion rings that were getting colder and colder the longer she stayed in the bathroom. Henry and Alice seemed too engrossed in their own conversation to look for her, and Hope had finally started eating and Killian did not wish to disturb her. He excused himself from the table and found himself outside the single, unisex bathroom door which was still tightly locked. He tapped lightly and heard a muffled ‘someone’s in here’ from Emma on the other side.

“Swan, it’s me,” he said, and then felt the need to add, “Killian.” His hand traced the letters on the door and he sighed, trying to think of the right thing to say. Killian couldn’t even imagine what to say to the woman he just met that morning, who was also supposedly his wife that he couldn’t remember and had twin daughters with. But he also couldn’t deny the powerful connection they seemed to have either. That was not something that had ever happened with someone he’d just met.

“Emma, I just want you to come out, please. Hope is worried about you.” He figured if he brought up her daughter that might make things a little less awkward. Killian heard a loud sigh echo from inside the bathroom, before the knob twisted and Emma flung the door open. She didn’t look like she’d been crying, which is what he thought might have happened, she didn’t even look disheveled, like she might have gone to pull at her hair in private while rehashing the kiss. No, she looked extremely calm, which actually frightened Killian a little. Why was she so calm? She looked him straight in the eye and whispered “A one time thing.”

_ A hot jungle. She was clad in a tank top and jeans while he was still wearing his leather duster. He should have been hotter than he was, due to the heat and humidity. They were goading each other, and then she pulled him by the lapels and kissed him. A hot steamy kiss that went on much longer than he anticipated it would. At first he wasn’t even sure if he should respond, she was just trying to prove a point, but then his hand fisted in her hair and he pulled her closer and it was the most amazing kiss he’d ever experienced in his life. And that scared the hell out of him. He’d spent so much of his life hellbent on avenging Milah, that opening up his heart to someone else ….could he do that? Before he could think too much on that though, the kiss had ended and she’d declared it a one time thing. But his heart still beat erratically, his lips still tingled, and he knew he’d go to the ends of the earth for this woman. _

Killian’s heart almost sunk when he heard her say that, but he automatically replied, “As you wish.” Emma’s eyes widened and she immediately pulled him closer to her in a hug. Killian was not expecting that. He’d expected walls thrown up. Possibly even some ranting. Definitely not a hug. She kissed him on the cheek.

“Some honeymoon, huh?"

_ She threw down her sword while Gideon still held his. She couldn’t die. He couldn’t let her sacrifice herself. There had to be another way. David held him back, because they knew Emma had to do this. Then, in a blinding light, Gideon stabbed her through the abdomen and he disappeared, leaving Emma lying on the pavement. It couldn’t end this way. Their love couldn’t end this way. And it wouldn’t. Henry gave her a final kiss, told her he loved her, and then True Love’s rainbow spread out over Storybrooke, and Emma was alive and in his arms once again. _

A lascivious smile came over his face, and he popped an eyebrow as more memories came crashing into mind.

“Did you miss me?”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay on this next chapter. I ran out of prewritten chapters, then I went on vacation, then my youngest turned 5, and just lots of things happening. I hope you enjoy this next chapter.
> 
> Thanks again to prodanglais and recoveringthesatellites for being my betas.
> 
> Don't forget to check out gingerchangeling's artwork on Tumblr.

God she’d missed him. She missed the feeling of his lips on hers. The slide of his tongue pressing against her lips for entrance. His hand threading through her hair. The feel of his body pressed against hers. She missed the feel of his hook pressed into her lower back.

“Killian!” Emma pulled away from him, and took a good hard look at her husband. God dammit, her husband! His eyes were still half closed and his lips were still puckered as he tried to chase hers back.”Killian,” she said softly. Her hand came up to his cheek, felt the scruff that she hadn’t felt in so long, noticed the red had been replaced with gray. He smiled into her hand, the laugh lines around his eyes running much deeper than when they’d left town. She automatically started threading her fingers through his hair and noted the gray intertwined throughout.

“Swan.” He breathed out. “Emma.” His eyes opened completely (she’d missed those beautiful blue eyes) and he was staring at her, as if finally seeing her for the first time. She felt completely exposed before him. It had been 12 years. 12 years! All her old insecurities about them came crashing back into her, until …”My beautiful Swan.” He touched his forehead to hers and Emma practically sobbed at the feelings that overwhelmed her. They were here. Together. In Storybrooke. With their family.

Their girls!

“Killian!” Emma pushed him away from her. He looked taken aback until she pointed over to their booth where their children were sitting. Their children. He grinned at her, taking her hand and brushing a kiss to her knuckles. Damn if that still wasn’t a huge turn on.

“Come on.” She said as she pulled on the hand he’d just kissed to lead him back to their booth.

They resettled themselves down in their seats. Emma proceeded to voraciously consume her grilled cheese and onion rings as if she hadn’t eaten in days. It wasn’t until she stopped halfway through to take a sip of her water that she noticed Henry, Hope, and Alice looking at her as if she were an alien sitting in front of them.

“What?” She asked, rubbing her nose. “Do I have something on my face?”

“Mom?” Henry asked. He didn’t need to ask anymore than that. Emma knew the silent question he was asking. 

“I don’t remember everything.” Emma said. “But I remember enough. I remember coming to Storybrooke. I remember magic. I remember Killian.” She smiled at him. “I vaguely remember the final battle. I definitely remember being pregnant with you two.” She pointed at the girls. Alice was grinning as wide as the Cheshire Cat from her namesakes story, while Hope just stared at her with a slightly confused look on her face. “I know we were cursed by a witch of some kind, but I’m hazy on the details of why.” She turned to look at Alice on the other side of the booth, her voice taking on a melancholy tone. “And I’m looking forward to getting to know you, my sweet Alice.” She reached out her hand to her daughter ( _ her daughter! _ ) and Alice placed her own hand in hers. “It kills me to know that I missed out on your life.” Emma smiled at her, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

“Killian?” Henry asked the same question.

“It’s all still a bit muddled.” He said, scratching the back of his neck. “The more you or Emma remind me of memories, even with just a word or a phrase, I get flashes of the past. But I’m still trying to connect it all together. But I know now, that everything Henry has said is true. Without a shadow of a doubt.”

The booth was quiet after that, almost as if no one knew what to say after the revelation that they’d recovered many of their memories. It felt strange to Emma, sitting there and eating when no one in the town knew who they were. Granny was right there in the kitchen without an inkling that she had once knitted her and the twins baby blankets. That she used to flirt shamelessly with Killian. That she used to scold them for making out in the hallways after their dates and ‘other’ activities. After the waitress had collected their plates, Granny came over to their table.

“Mr. Swan,” she said, addressing Henry, for he was the only one she recognized. Will you and your family be needing accommodations?” Henry nodded.

“Yes. For at least a week. Three rooms.” Granny nodded and went off to get them keys. 

“A week? Henry, we can’t stay here for a week.” Emma said, trying to take control of the situation. She had a job to get back to, they had to get the girls back to camp. She’s sure Killian had a job to get back to as well.

‘You’re mother’s right, lad. We have a lot to figure out, but we can’t stay here at the moment. There are too many logistics we need to work out.” Killian said. He took Emma’s hand in his. She sighed at the feel of his calloused hands holding hers. “Not that I don’t want to reacquaint myself with you, Swan.” He said, his voice lowering, his one eyebrow raised in that ridiculous way that drove her crazy.

“Ew!” Hope said as she closed her eyes tight and stuck out her tongue. “Some of us don’t want to hear that stuff.”

“I think it’s sweet.” Alice said, a wide grin on her face.

‘Look,” Henry began, before Emma could say anything else. “We need to go over a few things, so we have to at least stay tonight. You two can buy some clothes for yourselves and the girls for tomorrow and for sleeping tonight. Call the camp, let them know you found the girls and they won’t be returning, you can collect their things in a day or two. But, I think after you find out what I’ve discovered, you won’t want to get back to your false life right away.” Granny came by at that moment with three keys which Henry collected. Emma sighed and looked over at Killian who also seemed to be thinking over what Henry had just said. One night couldn’t hurt, could it?

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Killian still couldn’t believe they were back in Storybrooke and that he remembered his Swan. He couldn’t believe that when Emma came to his door that morning that his whole life would have been revealed to be a lie and that the love of his life was actually standing in front of him. But here they were. He wished he could remember everything, he knew there were pieces of his life from before that still weren’t coming to the surface, but for right now, he knew enough. He knew he was with his family.

Tears pricked at his eyes as he realized exactly what damage Gothel’s curse had done to them. He’d had Alice with him, yes, and he wouldn’t give those years up for the world, but she was supposed to have a mother, and a sister, and a brother. It shouldn’t have just been the two of them against the world. He should have regaled his girls with the tales of his and Emma’s romance. They should have known all their grandparents and a community that loved them from before they were even born. Instead they’d been separated and cursed to forget each other. And so had the town.

They had left the diner and were walking down the main drag to the few clothing stores that were there. It was only mid-afternoon, and plenty of people were milling around town. People that Killian recognized. People like Belle who had wandered out from the library with a sullen, dark haired, teenager trailing along behind her, which Killian realized after almost a minute had to be Gideon. Belle looked the same. Her brown hair still had no traces of gray in it, but it had been cut to her shoulders, her skirt was closer to her knees than mid-thigh, and she was wearing flats instead of the sky high heels she’d been known for. Gold met them halfway from his shop, still clad in the suits that he wore, and Killian almost did a double take. Even under the curse, he still hadn’t aged a day. Gold kissed both of Belle’s cheeks and they were engaging in conversation as Killian and his family walked by them toward the clothing shop on the other side of the street. 

“They won’t recognize us.” Henry said, suddenly appearing at Killian’s side. “I’ve been here once a year since we were cursed. Visited the library, visited the pawn shop. Neither one of them has ever even given one shred of evidence that they knew who I was.” Killian thought that Henry was telling him this to be reassuring, even though he and Gold had buried the hatchet (figuratively) years ago, but he could hear the sadness in Henry’s voice that even after all these years, the fact that they didn’t recognize him still hurt.

“And how is it that you have managed to retain your memories, lad?” Killian asked, realizing that Henry was no longer a lad. Gods, he was, he calculated in his head, 28 now! Practically the same age Emma had been when they’d met. He’d missed so much of Henry’s life.

“I’m the Author.” Henry explained. Killian realized they’d all stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to hear his explanation. “I’m supposed to observe and write everything down. Apparently, that makes me immune to mind-altering curses. Remember how I maintained my memories during the Black Fairy’s curse?” Both Killian and Emma nodded.

“So you’ve known this entire time?” Emma asked. Henry nodded. She stepped over to him and hugged him tight. “My poor, Henry. That must have been so hard for you.” She squeezed him even tighter.

“Where are we headed, Henry?” Asked Killian as they stowed their shopping bags back in their cars after finding clothes in one of the shops and then headed back down the street. The path they were on seemed familiar. The girls still seemed in awe of their surroundings. He could see Alice’s glee every time they passed a shop, having explained to them that Henry’s sequel to his book was the story of Emma’s life in Storybrooke up to the most recent curse. That had certainly explained why she knew what the Snow Queen’s Scroll was. Something that Killian still couldn’t remember all the details of himself. Alice seemed to know more about his past right now than he did. Hope still seemed unsure of everything, even though the truth was smacking her in the face. It made his heart ache to see how much like past Emma his daughter had become. There were walls around her 13-year-old heart and he had no idea what had made her so guarded.

“The Sorcerer's Mansion.” Henry said matter-of-factly. 

_ Fear welled up inside him as the Dark One talked about the one special ingredient he needed to separate himself from the dagger, and Killian realized exactly what the Dark One planned on doing. “As luck would have it, dearie, you’re my oldest friend.” The hand that had once plucked the heart of his dearest love and crushed it to a fine powder had now plunged into his chest. The icy coldness of it as it wrapped around his heart was a feeling he knew he would never be able to forget. He watched as the Dark One pulled out his heart and displayed it like a prize he had one. He begged for him to just do the deed. Kill him. Get it over with. “Oh, no. I promised you we’d have some fun first.” _

Killian stopped in the middle of the walk as the memory overcame him. He could feel his whole body shaking and the tang of blood in his mouth as he bit his lip. It almost felt like a panic attack (they seemed to be having them in abundance today), except he knew he was basically reliving the memory. Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome as he now knew it to be called.

“Killian!” 

“Papa!” 

He could hear their voices but they sounded very far away, even though he knew they were right next to him. He could feel Emma and Henry take his arms and help walk him over to a bench to sit down until it passed. He couldn’t get the image of his heart in the Dark One’s hand out of his head. It just wouldn’t go away. Even though he knew his heart was safely in his chest and had been for the past 15 years, he could still feel that squeeze as if it were happening right then and there. 

Eventually he felt Alice’s hand rubbing up and down his arm and whispering to him that they were here for him and everything was going to be alright. Emma held the other arm and attempted to do the same as Alice. His breathing finally evened out and returned to normal after what felt like a lifetime. He could see his family around him and not the Dark One holding his heart anymore.

“Papa?” Alice asked. She sounded so small. He hated when she sounded like that.

“I’m ...I’m okay, Starfish. Just,” he paused to take in another breath of fresh air, “just an old memory reeling it’s ugly head and taking me by surprise.” Alice and Emma continued to comfort him, but Killian noticed that Hope looked confused and Henry started to pale as understanding crossed his face.

“Oh, crap, Killian. I’m sorry. I’ve just been so focused on getting us to the future, that I didn’t really think about the past.” Killian nodded, understanding. Henry had always been impulsive that way. What else could he expect from someone who at the age of 10 had gotten on a bus to find his birth mother to break a curse. The kid (not really a kid, but he’d always be a kid to Killian) had a real hero complex going.

“What’s happening? Why did the mention of the mansion freak him out?” Hope asked, a puzzled expression still adorning her face.

Alice gave her an exasperated look before saying a hushed tone, “That’s where the Dark One took his heart! Come on, Hope. You read the book just this morning.” Killian couldn’t help but grin at that. Of course Alice would have committed every part of Henry’s sequel to memory, while Hope probably didn’t believe a word of what she read.

“He used to have nightmares about the…” Emma circled around her heart to indicate it instead of saying the actual words, “before it happened, because of…” she trailed off, probably because she didn’t want to mention Milah in front of the girls. But Alice seemed to have no qualms about it.

“Because the Dark One crushed Milah’s heart?” Killian almost burst out laughing.

“She really has your tact, doesn’t she?” Emma said to him as she bit her lip and also tried to suppress a laugh.

“She’s definitely her father’s daughter.” He said, his body feeling back in control. He nuzzled up against Emma’s cheek where she gave him a chaste kiss. He heard a loud sigh come from the direction of Hope.

“Are we going to have to see you two make out all the time now?” She asked, clearly annoyed. Hope rolled her eyes, but Killian could see the mirth behind them. 

“Yes!” Emma laughed, clearly used to this kind of behavior. He’d missed that laugh.

“Alright.” Killian said, taking a deep breath and finally getting up from the bench. “I’m good now. Let’s head over to the Sorcerer’s Mansion and see what Henry has found.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Memories swirled around her the more they walked through Storybrooke. Bits and pieces coming together in her head. It was so different from when Killian had given her the memory potion in New York and everything had just come rushing back. But this time it had been 12 years, instead of one, and Emma could see that despite the town looking exactly the same, the people had aged, just like she had. It made her very nervous, walking through the town. She was afraid to run into her parents and see what they looked like now. But also afraid because she knew they wouldn’t recognize her in the least.

Killian’s reaction to the memory of his heart being taken by Gold had scared her. She knew she had more memories just trying to break through. She’d already had one panic attack this morning (was it really only that morning?) when Henry had brought her to Chantey’s Lobster House, she wasn’t sure if she could handle another one. But she also knew they needed to do this. They needed to remember. They needed to make the town remember. They needed to get back the life that was stolen from them.

The Sorcerer’s Mansion was exactly how she remembered it on the outside. And she remembered everything that had happened there. From almost getting rid of her magic, to almost getting eaten by a giant spider. She was glad that it didn’t spark the same fear that had overcome Killian before.

“No one lives here still?” Emma inquired. She’d always wondered why no one had claimed this place, especially since both Merlin and the Apprentice were dead. 

“I think …I think I technically own it.” Henry said a little sheepishly. The twins both looked at him confused, but both Emma and Killian seemed to understand. “As the Author, I think it belongs to me.” He explained. “Luckily, no one from the town has seen me go in here. I’m not sure if they realize it exists.” He said, now drawing a baffled look from Killian, and Emma assumed her face looked similar, because how could the people of the town not see a huge mansion, even if it was away from the main drag.

“Let’s go in and I’ll explain it better.” Henry said as he opened the door.

They all walked in and Emma drew a breath as she surveyed the inside of the mansion. Henry had definitely been busy as she saw many whiteboards set up all around the room with notes and pictures on them. It looked like a police investigation room. 

“Please, sit.” Henry said, motioning for them to sit down at a large dining room table in the center of the room where there were several fairy tale books piled. Killian immediately deferred the head of the table to Emma and he sat to her left so he could continue to hold her hand. Hope sat on Emma’s right and Alice went to the other side of Killian. Henry took the other head of table. 

“I feel like I’m about to give a TED talk.” Henry joked nervously. It broke the tension that had mounted in the room, and everyone gave a good chuckle. Even Hope who still seemed a bit in disbelief at the whole situation. Emma couldn’t blame her. It took her falling through a magic portal to come to terms with everything, and that had been after killing a dragon and waking Henry with True Love’s Kiss. She was glad to see that Alice had inherited her brother’s belief at least.

“So, mom, Killian, if you recall, we found out that the powerful Gothel we had been threatened by was from the future, and the present day Gothel had not acquired her power yet. We also had a prophecy to contend with, one that Gothel was determined not to let pass.” She and Killian nodded in agreement.

“Well, it was obvious to me that someone needed to be monitoring the present day Gothel in the Enchanted Forest. The Blue Fairy had been doing that before we left, but obviously, with the mind wipe, she wouldn’t be able to do that anymore.” Emma started to tense. Killian’s hand also tensed in hers. She knew they were both thinking the same thing.  _ Don’t let Henry say it. _ She pleaded in her mind.  _ Please don’t let Henry... _

“So I went to the Enchanted Forest to keep an eye on her.” He said proudly. 

_ He said it. _

“How, pray tell, did you manage to do that?” Killian asked the question she was also thinking. 

“With a magic bean.” Henry said as though it were an obvious conclusion. “Several magic beans, actually. You may not recall, but we brought about 20 of them with us when we left town. Plus, the bean fields are still here and growing. They are still tending to and harvesting the beans.”

But how is that possible?” Alice asked intrigued. Emma could see she was intrigued by the whole concept of magic beans. She only hoped if Alice ever did get to go through a portal, she did it willingly and not accidentally fall into one or have to take one to rescue someone like she’d had to. Although, both of those trips did leave her panting over the hot pirate sitting next to her.

“Well,” Henry began, sounding very professorial, “while the people here may not know there is magic here, magic is still here. And it’s doing it’s damndest to make sure the citizens don’t know that until the curse is broken and their memories return.” Henry's voice had gotten faster and higher with this explanation.

“So when they harvest the magic beans…” Alice began, but Henry jumped right in.

“They think it’s something else entirely. I asked Granny on one of my trips and she said they’re just soybean fields.”

“And when you said you didn’t think anyone knew the mansion was here...?” Emma asked, trailing off when she realized she already knew the answer.

“It’s because this place is already pure magic. It probably just looks like a large field or something to them. Very Harry Potter.” Henry said amused at his little joke. That brought a smile to Emma’s face, and Hope’s as well. She and Henry had made sure Harry Potter was in Hope’s life. Of course, Emma could have never imagined that Harry Potter would be a little on the nose to their real life. 

“Ok, let’s go back to the beans and the Enchanted Forest.” Emma was not enjoying the nonchalant attitude Henry seemed to be taking this whole endeavor in. “I’m not too thrilled about you willingly going to the Enchanted Forest when such a potential threat is looming there. You may be the Author, but that doesn’t make you invincible. You don’t have the sword fighting skills or magic.” Emma worried. And that’s when she realized that she hadn’t felt her magic since getting to town or since her memories had returned. She immediately tried to conjure up a ball of magic, but nothing came out. She kept turning her hand and expecting the magic ball to be there when she turned it back, but there was nothing. She closed her eyes and tried to call on her emotions the way she had when she had first started learning how to control her magic, but still nothing. Killian’s hand eventually came to rest over hers looking upset. They both looked up at Henry for an explanation.

“I think the curse needs to break before your magic will return.” Henry said sadly. “The twins never showed any magical inclinations before we left, so I don’t think Gothel factored them in when creating the curse.” Emma nodded. It made sense. It still worried her, but she’d also lived more of her life without magic than with it.

“But that segues perfectly into what I found out on my trips to the Enchanted Forest.’ Henry smiled, trying to bring the mood back up. They all settled back into their chairs as Henry began his story.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“The first time I used a magic bean I almost forgot to pack another one to get myself home.I almost walked into the portal and then at the last second realized I had no way back. I managed to grab one and get back into the portal before it disappeared. I waited a little bit before going.” Henry explained. “I needed some time after that first trip to Storybrooke and saw how everything was just... normal. That Gothel had just left after the destruction she had wreaked now that we were all gone.” Henry swallowed back the small sob that threatened to leave his throat and quickly continued on.

“I quickly stole some clothes off a clothesline so that I would blend in and quickly hoofed it to the closest town and started making inquiries about Gothel. But she was still relatively unknown. It was frustrating. The people who had heard of her thought she was relatively harmless, mainly refilling lakes and rivers that had started to dry up, clearing up dead parts of the forest, and even bringing rain to help with growth. Most of the people seemed to feel she was being helpful. She’d even helped some families with her herbs when they’d fallen ill.” Killian cocked an eyebrow in confusion about this, Emma furrowed her brow contemplating what it all meant.

“I wondered for a time if there was another Gothel, a helpful Gothel, that maybe our Gothel had taken her name from. For several years, I went back to the Enchanted Forest asking about her, and every time it seemed she was not a threat.” Henry took a breath before he proceeded.

“But all that changed the year the twins turned seven. There were many rumors that circulated around the Enchanted Forest about Gothel’s sudden change. Some said she was spurned by a man, some said people were taking advantage of her goodwill. The most believed rumor was that someone had stolen some of her plants from her garden.” Henry almost rolled his eyes at this. He remembered thinking how odd it was that Gothel was going down the same path that her counterpart in the fairy tale books did. “Whatever it was, it seemed to have inspired a great hatred toward humans and Gothel was no longer the helpful witch that she had been for the past five years. She was now determined to rid the world of what she was calling ‘a pestilence on the land of her foremothers’. But I saw that she still wasn’t powerful enough to do that. This Gothel didn’t even know about the prophecy yet. She could do little more than make rivers flood and bring heavy rains, making people leave those areas due to their hovels being washed away.” Both Alice and Hope shifted nervously in their seats when Henry had brought up the prophecy, though Alice seemed a little more intrigued about Henry’s story.

“I continued to research the prophecy. It was because of this prophecy that the whole mess we were in had started. We obviously knew what the beginning of the prophecy meant. Alice and Hope had been born on either side of midnight during the Harvest Moon Lunar Eclipse. And Gothel was the ‘sinister conjuror’. And she had separated us to make herself stronger, but it was the last line that I needed help with. And reconciled on the day and night the true harvest moon meets.”

Henry knew what a Harvest Moon (or Blood Moon) was. It was the moon closest to the fall equinox. Killian had taught him that when the twins were born. But what did that mean for the girls? How did a Harvest Moon help them defeat Gothel?

“It took me almost three years to figure that out.” Henry said sheepishly, as though it should have taken him less time to figure it out. He’d researched a lot about the Harvest Moon and couldn’t figure out the connection, finally going to a planetarium show and getting some insight when they had a special about the different types of full moons. Henry’s audience stared at him waiting for the answer.

“A Harvest Moon falls closest to the fall equinox.” Henry explained, even though they all knew that because of the circumstances of their birth. “But it rarely falls on the actual fall equinox. When you were born it fell on September 27th, but the actual fall equinox was on September 23rd.”

“So, you think the date that Gothel will come back will happen on the night of the Harvest Moon this year then?” Killian surmised.

“Yes!” Henry said excitedly. “This year, the fall equinox falls on September 22nd and that’s also when the Harvest Moon will happen. The last time it happened was in 2010, and before that 1991. It’s a very rare occurrence. Just like the night the girls were born.” Emma and Killian both looked at the girls. Henry could see the terror in their eyes, knowing that because of the prophecy, the girls would have to fight this powerful witch. Alice and Hope just nodded at Henry, as if they were agreeing with whatever a teacher had said, even though they didn’t fully comprehend it.

“But, I’ve also discovered something else.” Henry said, eager to get to the crux of his revelation.

“It seemed that every time I made another trip to the Enchanted Forest, Gothel was getting stronger and stronger. The villagers were leaving in droves, fleeing to King Eric and Queen Ariel’s or King Phillip and Queen Aurora’s kingdoms.” Alice’s grin at the mention of those particular fairy tale characters almost took over her entire face. “I knew it was pointless to tell them that once Gothel had finished with the Enchanted Forest she would most likely come for those kingdoms next. The royalty that had taken over when Grandma and Grandpa had decided to stay in Storybrooke,” (a lovely couple in which the prince had apparently been cursed to be a frog at one point), “didn’t have the resources to take down such a powerful witch. Their army was no match for her, and as neither the Queen nor the King had any magic with which to match Gothel, they were losing the battle to maintain control of their kingdom quite quickly. It was their baby that Gothel stole to use in her time travel spell to visit mom the first time.” Both Hope and Alice looked horrified at this, even though it had been explained in his book during the whole Wicked Witch debacle. “According to the few villagers that had stayed around, Gothel had promised to stop attacking in exchange for borrowing the baby. This spell didn’t kill the baby but only drained a few years off it’s life for the time traveling ability. That was two years ago.” Henry desperately wished he’d brought some water with him, as he was getting parched from all the talking he was doing. He licked his lips instead.

“Right before the girls left for camp, I had a hunch and went to the Enchanted Forest earlier than I normally would have, to observe what was happening.” Henry stated.

“How did you know Alice would be going to the same camp?” Killian asked suddenly. 

“Um, that scholarship application she filled out? That was actually from me. I paid for her to go there. I also mailed you brochures to put the idea into Alice’s head.” Henry felt slightly guilty for that ruse, even though he knew he had to get the girls together somehow once he’d figured out the date of the Harvest Moon.

“Wait.” Hope interrupted before Henry could continue. “Every time you said you were going to write somewhere that didn’t have cell phone service so you could concentrate, that was you going to the Enchanted Forest?” Hope piped in.

“Yep.” Henry nodded.

“Man, I always thought mom was going to have heart attacks when you were off the grid and she couldn’t get a hold of you.” Hope reminisced, smiling for the first time since Henry had taken her from camp.

“Well, I wasn’t technically lying. There is no cell phone service in the Enchanted Forest as they haven’t invented electricity yet.” Henry chuckled.

“So, what did you find out?” Alice asked, bringing the conversation back on topic.

“A few days before camp started, Gothel was still reigning terror over other areas of the Enchanted Forest. She had kept her promise to the new royal couple about leaving her remaining villagers alone. But on the day I’m assuming you met, she had what I can only describe as a power surge. She was flying through the village with her magic going in and out. I even saw her fall out of the sky a few times. It’s like she was still powerful Gothel one minute and then her magic would fail the next. It was immediately after this that she borrowed a baby again. Not the same one as he was too old and didn’t have the same innocence needed, the king and queen had had another one and she used him.” Both Hope and Alice grimaced at this. “She went back to the point when she threatened us and made us leave Storybrooke. Now, when we saw her there, she was pretty powerful, because at that point in time, the twins were young and hadn’t come into their magic yet. Had she stayed in Storybrooke and not forced us to leave, she may have defeated us. But over the next few days I noticed her magic getting weaker and weaker. I mean, she’s still pretty powerful, but she’s still having those surges. I came back and a few days later I got the phone call from you, Hope, about meeting Alice.” He paused before really getting to the good stuff. “After rereading the prophecy, I’m almost positive that you two meeting again is what is causing her magic to weaken. The prophecy states by separating will make stronger. We all assumed that meant that Gothel separating us meant she would get stronger, but”

“But it made our magic stronger instead.” Hope interrupted. “Her separating us fulfilled the prophecy, just not the way she intended it to.

Henry smiled at his sister, his heart swelled with pride. He was definitely a proud big brother at the moment. “Exactly! The fact that your magic activated outside of Storybrooke practically proves that.”

“So now what?” Emma asked, her face looking almost ashen. “We now have a date for when she’s supposed to return, and the girls have magic. What are we supposed to do with this information?” Her voice sounded desperate, as though she didn’t really want the answer that Henry had to give.

“Now,” Henry said, licking his lips in anticipation, “we prepare for a fight.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait again. I'm thinking there will be two more chapters after this and then an epilogue! I can't believe we're getting so close to the end!
> 
> Thanks to my betas and artist as usual.
> 
> Enjoy!

Three months. Approximately 90 days until Gothel would come back. At least that was Henry’s hypothesis on the matter. Emma couldn’t help feeling like the shoe could drop any minute, but Henry was confident that Gothel wouldn’t appear until the prophecy told her to, especially with her magic on the fritz. Henry was also adamant that Gothel would be coming to them and they wouldn’t have to go to the Enchanted Forest, which made no sense to Emma, as the prophecy had been made in the Enchanted Forest. Wouldn’t it make more sense for it to happen there? 

“She’s already messed everything up by time traveling and warning you.” Henry had insisted. “She self-fulfilled the prophecy. Most likely, if she had just left well enough alone, we’d never have even heard of her and nothing would have happened. She’ll come here to protect herself, for self preservation, because she thinks it’s the only way to thwart the prophecy.”

Emma was still confused about the whole thing. She guessed that if Gothel hadn’t warned them, that if they hadn’t separated and they’d stayed in Storybrooke, something would have led them to the Enchanted Forest to stop Gothel regardless of the prophecy. But that wasn’t the way things were working.

“I thought we’d left all this behind us.” She lamented into Killian’s ear. He squeezed her hand in agreement.

“Aye, Swan. I’d hoped once we had defeated the Black Fairy we would get our happy beginning and not have to deal with over-the-top villains anymore.” He gave her a wink. Even after all these years, he still couldn’t wink correctly. She gave a slight laugh as she watched Henry talking with the girls. 

Girls.

It still felt weird to refer to both of them having only had one with her the past almost 12 years. But there would be plenty of time to lament about that later. It seemed that Henry had been turning the huge ballroom in the Sorcerer’s Mansion into a training room of sorts. Punching bags and wrestling mats were spread throughout the room. Mannequins and archery targets were set up around the walls. Plus a few spell books that looked like they may have been pilfered from Regina’s personal stash. When Emma held one up with a questioning look, Henry had gone red-faced and shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s not like she can use them right now. She doesn’t even know she has magic.” He said, grabbing them from her. “Plus, her boyfriend probably won’t like the fact that she was the Evil Queen once the curse is broken and keeping the spellbooks away might be a good idea.” Henry said off-handedly. Emma didn’t even know how to react to the fact that Henry had just told her Regina had a boyfriend in her cursed state. “We’ll talk about it later.” He said rushing over to the twins.

The plan was to teach the twins how to use their magic. Emma had some vague recollections of emotions and anger helping her magic when she first started, but she couldn’t remember the actual feelings that helped her get it under control. How she felt when she used it for something other than life saving measures. And the fact that she still couldn’t call on her magic so she could show them visually was upsetting her.

Alice seemed to take to her magic like a duck to water. She immediately had pink tendrils of it sparking from her hands, although she didn’t seem to be able to do much with it. Her magic just sat at her fingertips. Hope was having trouble conjuring her magic up at all. Emma realized it had only come out when she was frightened. Much like her own magic in the beginning.

“Maybe try lighting a candle?” Emma suggested, the memory surfacing of how she had to light that damn coconut in Neverland and almost lost Killian in the process. Henry nodded in agreement while Killian found some candles in the corner and brought them to a small table.

“Just don’t burn the place down now lasses.” He smirked.

“Why is our magic pink?” Hope asked while concentrating on trying to light a candle with her mind and making the funniest face Emma had ever seen on her. Pink was not a color Hope favored in the least.

“Well, my magic is white.” Emma offered.

“And mine was red when I was the Dark One.” Killian continued, now knowing that Henry’s book had filled the girls in on the details of their lives in Storybrooke.

“So, what, it mixed?” Alice asked, already getting a small flicker on her wick but not a sustained flame. She seemed to be having a much easier time than Hope who still had her face scrunched up and seemed to be turning the color of a tomato.

“It’s a good thing we have three months.” Killian whispered into Emma’s ear as he wrapped his arms around her from behind and gently bit her ear lobe. She sighed in contentment. She didn’t realize how much she’d missed the simple act of just being held in someone’s arms. The fact that it was her husband’s helped ease her tension immensely.

_ Oh, shit! Husband! _

Emma started to tense up again, realizing that Henry had reserved them three rooms. She had assumed, of course, that Henry would be in his own room, while she and Killian bunked with each of their daughters, but now…. Well, she wasn’t sure what to assume anymore. Suddenly she was as nervous as she’d been when he first started flirting with her back when she’d tied him to a tree in the Enchanted Forest (a memory that had just slipped into her mind).

“Are you alright, love?” Killian asked, the tone of his voice concerned. Emma should have remembered that he could read her like a book, and he definitely would be able to feel the change in her body, even if it had been years. She glanced over at the girls, Henry was reading something from the spell book about harnessing magic; Alice looked elated and Hope looked troubled. Emma turned in his arms to face him and furrowed her brow, trying to think of the best way to approach this...situation. Killian’s face looked concerned, but with that boyish smirk that she remembered him giving her back when they were dating and she’d been too scared to admit that she loved him (it was amazing how these memories just slid back into her head). Eventually, bluntness won out.

“How long has it been for you?” She asked softly, slowly rubbing her hands up and down his arms, something she knew he would see as a comforting move and that her question wasn’t accusatory by any means. At first he looked confused about what she was asking him, then, predictably, his expression changed to one of shock, his eyebrows practically in his hairline (which, thankfully, had not moved that far up his scalp in these past 12 years), then his head bent down to hers and his eyes closed in almost a look of shame.

“Swan,” Killian said in almost a pleading tone, “We...we didn’t know…” He sounded so broken. Emma realized she’d gone the wrong route, so she kissed him, a slow, lingering kiss that she was sure if Hope had noticed would have grimaced at.

“Killian...that’s not...I’m sorry. I was nervous and went to the absolute worst place.” She placed her hands on his face so that he had to look her in the eyes. She hoped her look conveyed that she wasn’t mad at him or blamed him for anything. “I would never have expected a good-looking man like you to be celibate the past 12 years.” She took a deep breath before she continued. “Just like I haven’t been celibate either.” She gave a sad smile, thinking now that her mind must have known she was already spoken for over the past years, even if she didn’t remember it, and that’s why nothing had ever felt right with any man she had been with. 

“Aye.” He said nodding into her hands before he cocked an eyebrow at her. “But I think you meant a dashing rapscallion.” There was her pirate. She kissed him with everything she had in her. Killian pulled her towards him, his hands around her waist and getting dangerously close to her ass. She’d forgotten this, forgotten the feel of him, forgotten the heat between them.

“Moooom!” Forgotten their children were right there. They both pulled away at Hope’s exasperated voice, foreheads still touching, eyes still half-closed. Emma heard footsteps approaching and turned to see Henry walking towards them. 

“I’ve got the girls. We’ll be fine here. Why don’t you two talk.” He slipped one of the keys to Granny’s into Emma’s hand and went back to the girls. 

And now Emma was nervous again.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Killian had sensed the change in Emma almost immediately. He wasn’t sure what had happened, he had just tried to be playful with her with the ear nibble, but apparently it had sent up some signal to put her walls up. Her questioning him about his sex life was like a bucket of ice water being dumped on him. He knew it was ridiculous to think they both would have remained faithful in their cursed state, especially since they both thought their significant others were dead, but now any dalliance he’d had felt like he had cheated on his wife, and that was not a feeling he liked at all. Henry telling them to talk only exacerbated Emma’s nervousness.

They quickly exited the mansion, Killian keeping his arm around Emma’s waist. He could feel her warring with herself about whether to pull away or stay close to him. It seemed like the staying close to him argument won out, as she tucked into his side as they walked. 

They remained silent for their walk. Emma seemed confused when Killian didn’t turn them toward Granny’s Bed and Breakfast like Henry had suggested with the key. Instead, Killian walked them toward the docks. It had always been a great place for both of them to think. They settled themselves on one of the benches. Killian took one of her hands and placed a kiss on the knuckles. She hadn’t looked at him yet. She was staring intently at the water, worrying her bottom lip in between her teeth, before she sighed and began to speak.

“After we were first cursed, and I thought Neal had died, I was so relieved that he was gone. I mean, my cursed self obviously had some feelings for him, otherwise I would have never believed that Hope was his. But I just remember having this feeling of dread with him. Like he was always going to leave me, like he had the first time. So the fact that he was gone because of death and not because of his own choice made me feel a little better about it? I don’t know how else to describe it. And I was so happy to not have to worry about him coming back into mine and the kids' lives again that I kind of went a little crazy with the one-night stands when we moved to Boston.” She shrugs her shoulders. “But it never felt right.” And I was starting to feel pathetic as a single mom of two in my thirties going out and trolling for men. I did a few setups and blind dates, I even tried online dating at one point, but no one ever had that spark.” She finally looked up at him, a determined look in her eyes. “Now I know that even though I couldn’t remember you, I wasn’t meant to be with anyone else. That’s why no one else felt right. No one else was you.” She smiled at him, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. He mentally cursed Gothel for apparently adding in that little layer of never being able to find someone else, for making sure they were not just separated, but lonely as well, but also thankful that Emma was still as single as he was. He was about to add in his own tales of unsuccessful one-night stands and the loneliness he had also endured over the years since Emma had confessed hers when she added one last little caveat.

“I’m nervous!” She burst out. “It’s been awhile in general, and it’s been awhile since we…” She gestured her fingers between the two of them until Killian finally realized what she was apprehensive about.

“You’re nervous about us being intimate?” he affirmed, a little surprised. It’s not like she’d ever been shy in the bedroom.

“It’s been 12 years, Killian. I’m….we...things are different...and in different places.” Killian finally understood why his Swan, his beautiful Swan, was so nervous now. Hadn’t he just been lamenting lately about the gray in his hair and the fact that now that he was a manager his muscles weren’t as firm as they used to be due to the lack of lifting boxes everyday. Not to mention the lines that had deepened on his face and his stomach showing his love for pizza.

“Swan. Emma.” He brought her face back toward his so he could look upon it. “You are just as beautiful to me today as you were the day we met. Neither of us are the same as we were 12 years ago, and we wouldn’t be even if we hadn’t been separated by Gothel’s curse. We can go as slow or fast as you like. But just remember, I love you. I love every part of you.” She smiled at him, the glorious smile that made him light up inside. “Even if they aren’t where they were the last time we were together.” He added jokingly. Emma swatted his arm but laughed all the same. “If you’d rather bunk with Hope tonight and me with Alice, I completely understand.” He said, his tone more somber than it had been just a few seconds previous. Emma seemed to think about it for a moment, glancing between his lips and the key Henry had pressed into her hand. She brushed her fingertips over his face, tracing over the lines that had not been there the last time they’d gazed upon each other. Her fingers moved to his lips and he kissed the tips of them. A small sigh came from her lips and then her lips were on his. This time a sigh emanated from his lips.They sat there on the bench for what seemed like minutes, hours, days, just kissing each other, breathing each other in. As they did, more memories came pouring into his mind. 

Their first tryst with each other after Emma had returned his heart.

Their first time when they moved in together.

The way Emma looked walking down the aisle.

Their honeymoon.

When Emma announced she was pregnant.

It was like waking up slowly, the way the memories would suddenly materialize in his mind. He could hardly believe he had forgotten them, that he had been made to forget them. With each kiss from Emma it seemed to spark more and more memories. 

“Wow!” She said, pulling away from him. “Did you just get a memory jolt there too?” He nodded. She seemed much less nervous than she had before. “Why don’t we make good use of this key then? Stir up some new memories.” She practically purred. There was his Emma.

“Are you sure?” Killian asked, not wanting to take advantage.

“Definitely. That last memory dump made me a hell of a lot more confident.” She grabbed his hand to pull him up off the bench and he picked her up and kissed her again. 

“This is all I need right now if you aren’t ready.” He reassured her. He only wanted her to feel safe with him. It was true that he did want more, but he always put Emma’s needs before his.

“I’m sure.” Emma smiled, this time reaching her eyes. It was a beautiful sight. 

They started to walk hand in hand back toward Granny’s when Killian suddenly stopped short. Another memory had resurfaced and it had brought up a question that hadn’t even occurred to him when they’d entered Storybrooke.

“What’s wrong?” Emma asked as stopping short had caused her to stop as well. Killian turned to her, his heart thumping very loudly in his ears.

“Swan, where the hell is the Jolly Roger?”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope had never seen either iteration of The Karate Kid, but she knew enough that she felt like this is what the main characters must have felt like when they were being trained to wax on and wax off. She rolled her eyes as Henry kept trying to talk to them about feelings and accessing their magic through it. Alice looked like she was trying to push her magic from her hands every time Henry yelled at her to make her angry, but Hope already knew that pushing Alice’s buttons was not going to work. Especially since she just beamed at Henry every time he tried to go all drill sergeant on her, the happiness that radiated through her of having a big brother trying to anger her. The whole thing just annoyed Hope. If she was going to believe in this magic and learn to use it, Henry was not the obvious choice. Of course, he did know how to get under her nerves more. But from what Hope remembered from the book, their mother’s magic worked on all emotions and not just anger. She almost wished they could just have a training montage like in the movies and come out knowing magic and how to defend themselves in a neat three minutes.

Hope’s life had definitely taken a turn that she never could have imagined. Despite Henry trying to get her into fairy tales and fantasy (and now she knew why he was so adamant about it), and her mom trying to push Harry Potter onto her, Hope had always gravitated toward reality. She loved true crime stories and documentaries. She loved watching reruns of Law and Order and CSI on the crime channel. She wanted to do something involving law enforcement or forensics when she grew up. She had never believed in unicorns and fairies and mermaids and all that little girl fantasy bullshit (pardon her language), and now here she was in a town populated by amnesic fairy tale characters trying to hone her magic skills. 

Hope’s brooding was interrupted by one of the mannequins falling over. Alice had a guilty grin on her face.

“Sorry.” She said as she bent over to pick it up. Hope squinted her eyes in frustration over the whole thing. How had her life ended up this way? Is this how her mom felt when she discovered magic existed? Was it harder for her to believe considering she had been Henry’s age (Henry’s book didn’t necessarily go into too much detail about feelings and what not, unless it had been about certain characters pining over each other)? The more she thought about how ridiculous this all was the more upset she got about it. Would she have to leave Boston? Would they move here? How could she and Alice hope to defeat a powerful witch when they could barely access their magic? These questions kept running over and over and over in her head and Alice was knocking something over again and Hope never dealt with stress very well.

“Just stop it!” Hope yelled slamming her hands on the table and startling Alice and Henry who were picking up the mannequin again...and then were subsequently knocked over by a pink wave of magic that had shot out from Hope’s hands.

“What the hell?” She exclaimed, staring at her hands horrified. It was like they were foreign objects on the ends of her wrists. Foreign objects with pink magic emanating from them. They looked like electric currents running across her palms. She immediately tried to will it away, but that didn’t seem to do anything. The magic still ran across her palms to her fingertips before crackling out of sight.

Henry and Alice were suddenly by her side.

“Are you alright?” Henry asked, concerned, while Alice simultaneously burst out “That was so cool!” They both hastened toward her but Hope feared she might hurt them.

“Stay away!” She shouted and threw her hands out in a stop gesture but resulted in another wave of magic. Tears sprang to Hope’s eyes as she saw Henry topple over again due to the magic blast, but Alice managed to stand her ground.

“Hope!” Henry said as if she had used her magic on purpose. Hope was about ready to run off somewhere. She wasn’t sure where as she didn’t know any place in the town, probably back to Granny’s if anywhere, but how would she be able to control her magic? Is this how her mother felt when she almost gave her magic up in Henry’s book? That fear of being out of control. She felt herself spiraling again and her magic was crackling louder and louder until it was the only thing she could hear. Hope could feel it bubbling up inside of her about ready to break free through her hands again when it suddenly ceased.

Hope looked up and opened her eyes (she hadn’t even realized she’d closed them), the tears she’d been trying to stop spilling down her cheeks. Alice stood in front of her holding their hand together. It was as if Alice was a salve that soothed her magic and kept it calm. Their magic intertwined between their hands as if it were an infinity sign, no beginning and no end.

“How….how are you doing that?” Hope asked, shocked at how Alice’s magic was reacting to hers. Alice shook her head.

“Well, since I activated our magic, and we’re  _ twins _ ,” Alice greatly overemphasized the word twins which Hope rolled her eyes at, “I figured our magic probably reacts better when we’re together. So let’s try this, together.” Alice grinned at Hope and for the first time since all the craziness started, Hope finally believed, fully and whole-heartedly, without a doubt in her mind.

It was like a weight had been lifted. Hope felt a million times lighter, and this time when Henry instructed them to use their magic to knock over one of the mannequins, all Hope had to do was look over at her  _ sister _ , and together the magic flowed through them and knocked it over with ease.

  
  
  



	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this has taken so long, but it's here. The battle! I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Once again, thank you to my wonderful betas, profdanglais and recoveringthesatellites. They helped me make this an amazing chapter!
> 
> Don't forget to check out the banner by gingerchangeling over on Tumblr.

It was too silent. Hope couldn’t sleep. She was used to the sounds of Boston outside her window. She’d always heard New York was the city that never slept, but she figured Boston had to be a close second. Now here in Storybrooke, even though they’d been living here permanently for two months now, it was still too quiet. Hope needed the buzz of the city white noise to help her sleep.

She sighed as she tossed and turned in her bed, trying to find a comfortable position. She was still getting used to her bed being in this new place, well, new to her, or, rather, new to her now. She’d apparently spent the first two years of her life here, not that she’d remember.

Discovering that the house Killian - no, her father - and Henry had painstakingly picked out all those many years ago was still standing vacant had put such a smile on her parent’s faces. Hope had never seen her mother smile so wide. She wondered if she’d pulled a muscle. Hope couldn’t believe that a house could just stand vacant for so many years, but as no one could actually see Storybrooke from the outside world, they didn’t have many new people moving in. And, as Henry had explained, everyone was content with what they had, so no one had ever attempted to either claim it or buy it. Alice had wondered if even though everyone was cursed to forget about their family, they still had some inkling that the house did belong to someone, even if they couldn’t remember who. Her parents and Henry felt that was just as good as an excuse as any.

The first time they had entered the house (with the keys that Henry had made sure weren’t lost over the years) Hope had expected it to smell musty and be filled with dust, but Henry explained that he had been taking care of it all these years. Another task he’d given himself. Hope had just nodded as she took in the beautiful old Victorian house with items she had only ever dreamed of having. She could just imagine wrapping herself up in a blanket while swinging on the porch swing, or being able to actually practice sprints in their backyard and not just at school like she previously had. Alice had been overjoyed as well about the wraparound porch, something she’d always wanted, and kept babbling about having tea out there. The view of the ocean was a sight to behold as well, and Henry promised they’d have the Jolly Roger back out there as soon as he got it back from the Enchanted Forest (something about losing it in a card game that Hope swore Killian’s head was going to explode from; oh, and her father had an actual real life pirate ship).

She watched her parents walk through the house, talking about all the things that had happened there.

Moving in together.

The first proposal.

Discovering they were pregnant.

A whole slew of firsts.

It wasn’t until they reached the nursery that the mood turned solemn. Hope and Alice watched their parents as they ran their fingers over the cribs and mobiles that were still there. The toys that still sat on the shelves waiting for someone to play with them. The rocking chair in the corner that rocked slightly from their weight on the wooden floor. They had suddenly heard sobbing coming from their mom. She had turned into their father (Hope still wasn’t sure what to call him) as silent tears ran down his face as well.

“They were supposed to grow up here,” she sobbed into his shirt. Hope didn’t know how to react. She’d never seen her mother so vulnerable. She couldn’t even recall seeing her upset about anything. Father (Dad? Papa?) stroked the back of her hair and she continued to cry. Henry came up behind her and stroked her back to help console her. Alice grabbed Hope’s hand, her eyes filling with tears as well. 

After what seemed like hours (but had really only been minutes), their mom had finally managed to stop crying. Hope really didn’t know how to react to all this. She wasn’t the emotional type (she’d been called stoic before).

“I really am like my mother, aren’t I?” she’d said with a watery laugh. They both turned toward Alice and Hope. “I went through the same thing with my mother after the curse had been broken. In the nursery in the Enchanted Forest. It was the first time I realized that my parents had wanted me so damn much and I was loved.” She’d smiled at them, but mainly at Alice, making Hope feel slightly jealous that she’d now have to share her mother’s affections, but she quickly pushed that feeling onto the back burner. She’d looked at Killian and realized that he was feeling the exact same way about her that her mother felt about Alice. 

And so they had moved their stuff in after a month. Their friends must have thought them crazy for literally packing up to move to a small town in Maine. But once their parents had rediscovered each other, they wanted to be back together. And they wanted to be with their true friends and family, even if the townsfolk still didn’t remember them. And now Hope was fruitlessly trying to fall asleep in the biggest room she’d ever slept in where it was too god damn quiet.

Eventually, the digital clock read 12:00, and Hope just couldn’t stay in bed anymore. She was still wide awake. She gracefully pulled her door open with her magic, a deep shade of emerald green when not combined with Alice’s. They’d discovered that each of them had talents unto themselves when it came to their magic. Hope’s was manipulating the air around objects, and using it to open the door helped it so it didn’t squeak on its hinges (and, Hope mused to herself, she could always use the practice, even if it was just opening a door).

She crept down the soundless hallway, the only noise being her feet on the hardwood. She debated on whether to float down the hall (something else she’d been working on with her magic), but decided against that. Especially, since the last time she’d done that she’d scared the bejeezus out of her father and he’d almost punched her in his half-asleep state. 

There was only one person that could help her sleep since they’d moved to Storybrooke. One person who could help ease her mind when it wouldn’t calm down. When the silence got to be too much for her.

“Alice?” Hope used her magic to open Alice’s door as well. Alice was asleep, as she should be. It seemed to only be Hope who had trouble sleeping considering they were supposed to be facing an evil witch soon. Alice stirred and groggily sat up when she saw Hope standing in her doorway.

“What’s up, sis?” Alice sat up and turned on the lamp on the nightstand. They really couldn’t have more different tastes Hope thought as she walked over and sat down at the edge of Alice’s floral covered bed. Her bedspread was just solid colored, black on one side and red on the other. She twisted her hands in her lap, a nervous habit of hers from when she’d been little that had reared its ugly head when she’d learned about magic and curses and whatnot.

“We have two weeks.” Alice nodded at this. Hope looked frustrated at Alice’s complacency to her statement. She threw her hands up in frustration, everything feeling like it was coming down upon her at once. “How can you be so calm? We have to fight a particularly dangerous witch and you’re always so calm. How are you not freaking out about this? We’ve only had our powers for three months!” Hope was whisper-shouting, trying not to wake up the rest of their family, and Hope could see that Alice was trying to be serious but Alice couldn’t help but let out a giggle, probably because Hope knew she was being ridiculous, which, of course, made Hope even more furious.

“I’m sorry.” Alice said, quickly pressing her hand to her mouth to suppress her giggles and putting on what Hope assumed was supposed to be a serious face. Hope huffed at her. “Look, Hope, I know this whole thing is nerve wracking. We’re fairly new magic users going up against a powerful sorceress, it would make anyone scared out of their wits.” Hope gave her a look that basically said ‘duh’. Alice rolled her eyes at Hope and took her hands in hers. She felt a warm feeling run through her (their magic running between them like an electric current) as their sisterly bond grew stronger with every interaction. “But here’s the thing. The prophecy states that we defeat her.” Hope attempted to interrupt but Alice shushed her and continued on. “Gothel showed her hand too early. She tried to thwart the prophecy and fulfilled it instead. She tried to separate us thinking it would make her stronger and it only made  **us** stronger. I’m scared, just like you. But knowing that we defeat her, that gives me all the confidence I need.”

Hope thought this over. She needed a clear image, a bigger picture, to make her feel at ease. The way Alice described how she saw this whole situation made sense. It wasn’t impending doom, it was a sure victory.

“It’s still scary.” Hope said with a resigned sigh. And then, in a small voice, “Can I sleep in here with you?” 

Hope had never been so thankful for their full-sized beds. Alice pulled the cover away for Hope to slip under and they both fell asleep with ease, their magic humming between them.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite everything that Alice had told Hope to get her to calm down, she was scared shitless, which was not a phrase she used lightly. She truly did believe they would win, but there was nothing in that prophecy that said they wouldn’t get hurt or killed doing it. She just hoped that getting Hope calmed down enough to continue practicing these last few weeks would result in a battle that didn’t result in their ultimate demise.

They’d spent the summer training for most of the day while their parents had moved all their stuff in and gotten the house ready. School had started a week ago, so now they could only practice their magic after school and on the weekend. Hope had complained about starting school when they had a real crisis to deal with (and the fact that she was worried about dying rather than making friends and doing homework). Alice had sat in that 8th grade classroom and almost started crying as she realized that the students in this room should have been other children she grew up with. She should have already been friends with them, not just meeting them for the first time on the first day of school. Their classmates had looked at them like oddities, since no one new had ever moved to Storybrooke before (at least, not that they could remember), and it made Alice even more determined to defeat Gothel and get the curse broken (and Alice was hoping that their teachers wouldn’t be too hard on them if they didn’t have their homework all completed once they’d saved the town).

Before heading over to the Sorcerer's Mansion, Alice headed down to the beach behind their house. Like her Papa, being near the water helped calm her. The waves lapped melodically back and forth and she adjusted her breathing so that it matched them. 

She was sitting on the bench with her eyes closed when she heard footsteps behind her. 

“Hey, Papa.” She didn’t even need to open her eyes to know it was him.

“Hey, Starfish.” He said, taking a seat beside her. She automatically leaned into him, his arm coming around her. He’d gone back to wearing his pirate’s hook instead of his grip hook that she’d grown up with. She understood, now that he had most of his memories back, he wanted something that would bring him comfort. Alice still wasn’t used to the weight of it on her hip. 

“There’s only two more days, Papa.” She said, sighing into his shoulder. “I know you say we need to embrace the quiet moments, but it’s kind of hard with this looming over us.”

“Welcome to my world.” He chuckled. “I know you read about it in Henry’s book,” both he and Mom had read Henry’s ‘sequel’, “but now you know what it was really like. Only we didn’t have a date. We just battled the villains by the seat of our pants and hoped we could defeat them in any little skirmish we could. It was quite nerve-wracking most of the time.” He scrubbed his face and became much more serious. “I wish you and Hope didn’t have to face her alone. I mean, you won’t be alone, Henry, and your mother and I will be there with you, but it would’ve been nice if your mother’s magic was working, and the rest of the townspeople who had magic could help us too.” He moved his hand up to his hair, pulling on it as he spoke. Alice noticed there was much more gray in it than when the summer had started. 

“It’s okay, Papa.” She said, now trying to calm him. “Besides the fact that Hope and I combined are a seriously dangerous combo, and the fact that I can manipulate water and Hope has her air thing going, I think we’re gonna win. That’s what this family does. They beat the bad guys.” She punctuated this with a burst of blue magic (the same color as her eyes Papa had told her) from her hands that made a small fountain of sea water arc up and hit her Papa right in the face. But before he could say anything she exclaimed, “Hey!” with a wide, mischievous grin on her face, “Maybe we can convert Gothel to our side like you, Regina, and Zelena.” The face that had looked like it was about to yell at her now broke out into laughter and that made Alice feel much better about what the future held.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The air around them felt electric the whole day of the Harvest Moon. Even if they hadn’t known tonight was the night Gothel would come back, the fact that their hair seemed to be standing on end would have drawn suspicion. The denizens of Storybrooke were complaining about a heat wave rolling in (that’s how the curse seemed to be portraying it to them), and they all seemed to be on edge about it. To Killian, it felt like the warm air that would envelop his ship right before a major storm would come. He wondered if the electricity they were all feeling was the nervousness of the girls. It wouldn’t surprise him. He knew how Emma got before the promise of a big battle, all the nervous energy that would manifest through her magic and make lamps explode (every single time). And now there were two very inexperienced girls who were supposed to take down a very talented witch. Killian was surprised more lights weren’t exploding all over Storybrooke.

Emma had insisted on making spaghetti and meatballs for dinner that night, which happened to be both girls' favorite dinner. 

“It feels like we’re eating our last meal before we’re executed.” Hope said solemnly as she barely nibbled on a piece of garlic bread. Killian nodded while absentmindedly twirling a piece of Emma’s hair around his fingers. Alice seemed to be the only one not outwardly showing her nervousness.

Something exploded outside!

Alice and Hope immediately went on the defensive, light pink magic held aloft in their hands. Henry went and peeked out of the windows to see if he could see what had made the noise, even though they were all sure it was Gothel. 

“Come on out and play little ones.” An overly saccharine and creepy disembodied voice rang out. Killian saw Hope visibly shudder at this, her magic almost shorting out. Alice grabbed her hand for reassurance and her magic sparked back to life.

“Remember,” Killian heard her say, “we are stronger together. Together we will conquer her.” Hope nodded, even though she’d gone completely pale.

Henry looked over at them all with a silent question on his face. Both Alice and Hope nodded and Emma grabbed Killian’s hand. He knew she felt completely helpless without her magic to help. As she’d learned long ago, guns didn’t do a thing when facing fairy tale creatures. Henry slowly opened the door.

Immediately, Henry was flung back into Killian and Emma, knocking them all to the ground. Killian could see the terror on his girls’ faces.

“Are you okay, Henry?” Emma asked, her voice practically cracking at the octave it was hitting. He nodded yes and pointed at the twins.

“Go help them. They need you more than me.”

Killian helped Emma to her feet and ran after the girls who had run outside to face their foe.

There Gothel was, hanging in midair in front of a bright, orange moon that looked as if it had been reined in just to be used as a backdrop for her entrance. Both Hope and Alice stood below her, almost entranced by Gothel, her black hair framing her face like a halo with the wind whipping it around, her arms outstretched as though she were simply a ballerina who had done a tremendous leap into the air. And as if this weren’t creepy enough, she was laughing. The most bone-chilling, sinister laugh that Killian had ever heard in his long life.

Alice turned to look at Hope and gave her a sly smile. Hope nodded her head in return and they both took their free hands (as their hands were still clasped together) and shot a blast of magic toward Gothel. Killian could see the look of shock pass over Gothel’s face as their magic hit her square in the chest and she tumbled from the sky to the ground. Alice and Hope also looked shocked, both of them looking at each other confused about what had just happened. Killian looked over at Emma who had a look on her face that wondered if it really was that easy. 

Gothel stirred slightly from the ground, a low moan emanating from her. Both girls readied their magic once again as Gothel slowly picked herself up from off the street where she had landed (and Killian wondered what the people of Storybrooke must be thinking was going on out here since no one had come outside to check out the noise).

“NO!” Gothel shouted at the girls as they slowly made their way towards her. “NO! NO! NO!” She shouted some more now fully upright and dusting off her gown (the same burgundy gown they’d seen in her all those years ago, now just slightly more ratty looking). “THIS IS NOT HOW THIS IS SUPPOSED TO GO!” The girls stopped, almost startled. Gothel was screaming at them as if they were dogs who had done something bad. Killian would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so dire.

Softly, quietly, as if she were trying to keep a child from throwing a tantrum. “And how was it supposed to go?” Emma asked, breaking free from his arms. 

“Swan, don’t engage,” he whispered, not moving a muscle. If she would just focus on the girls then they could end her, defeat her, whatever the hell it was that they were supposed to do to her. But Emma didn’t listen ( _ I never listen _ ), she stormed over and got right up into Gothel’s face. Killian could see the fear on both his daughters’ faces. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. There was a plan, of sorts, which did not involve his wife losing her temper at this witch.

“I SEPARATED YOU!” Gothel screamed again, her face now starting to turn purple with rage. “IT WAS SUPPOSED TO MAKE ME STRONGER!” Emma looked as though she had some sort of retort on her lips, but Gothel blasted her away. 

“Swan!” Killian cried, finally allowing himself to move. She’d been blown back into their white picket fence, the one Emma had insisted on having when she talked about their future together. She was crumpled against the fence, having taken down a few of the pickets. “Oh, gods, love, are you alright?” He asked, kneeling over her and checking for injuries. He could hear more blasts of magic coming from behind him.

“I’m fine.” Emma said weakly. Killian lifted her up, trying not to jostle her too much and laid her on the porch swing. She patted him on the shoulder and stared at him, her emerald eyes giving no leniency for what she was silently asking him to do, and then she passed out. He nodded at her sleeping form (quickly checking to make sure she was still breathing), then kissed her on the forehead before running back to see how the girls were faring. 

Hope and Alice were now on either side of Gothel, who looked a little worse for wear. Hope was pushing Gothel towards Alice who had somehow concocted a wall of water in front of her, which would push Gothel back toward Hope and then the whole cycle would happen over again. Gothel was attempting to throw balls of magic at them, but she couldn’t keep them active enough in her hand. They seemed to fizzle out the closer she got to either twin. And that’s when Killian finally figured it out.

Alice glanced over at Killian, a grin on her face that she only wore when she was showing off for him. And it happened so fast Killian swore he hadn’t even blinked. Gothel somehow sensed that Alice’s attention wasn’t solely on her and she used it to her advantage. She used her magic to push at the wall of water and made it fall directly onto Alice.

“NO!” Killian screamed, which in turn distracted Hope, her wind dying down to go see if Alice was alright. “Hope!” Killian yelled as he ran over to Alice. “I’ve got her, Hope, but you need to keep going, keep fighting. Wear her out. Her magic is weak.” Hope nodded, but he saw real fear in her eyes now that she was facing Gothel all on her own.

“I’m fine, Papa.” Alice said as she attempted to get up from where the water had submerged her. She attempted to wring out her soaked shirt and hair. “Please, Papa, stay out of the way and let us handle this.” Alice pleaded. Killian nodded, even though he wanted to grab the sword he had with him from its scabbard and just rush at Gothel and pierce her through the heart. “I have to get back and fight,” she said with tears in her eyes.

“I think I’ve figured it out, Starfish,” Killian said quickly, not wanting to distract her from her task too much longer. Hope kept pushing at Gothel with her air, but Gothel was an elemental witch, she could push it right back. “Somehow your powers are connected. I don’t know why, or how, but the more she attempts to use her magic against the both of you, the less she has. Remember, Henry said her magic started to weaken when you and Hope met. She thought the separation had made her stronger, but that was only because you two weren’t together. Somehow, she’s getting weaker and you two are getting stronger.” He quickly kissed her on the top of her head before giving her a playful push back toward Gothel. “Now go defeat this witch!” And with that, Alice ran off toward her sister.

Hope and Gothel were engaged in what looked like a battle that involved a huge electrical storm. Gothel seemed to be making a huge windstorm swirl around them while Hope threw magic bolts at her. She tried to use her own powers to ward off the wind slapping at her, but she couldn’t do that and try to defend herself with her magic at the same time. Killian could see Gothel swirling the wind around and pulling in her and Hope’s magic into it until it looked like an angry storm cloud, the kind that made even the most well-weathered sailor wonder what they had done to anger Poseidon so. Right when it looked as though she were going to shove it directly at Hope, Alice clasped Hope’s hand in hers. The two girls caught each other's eyes, gave a slight nod, then looked back at Gothel. A wave of magic burst from both of them just as Gothel released her storm at them.

Killian expected there to be an explosion of sound when both fronts of magic hit together. Thunderous and loud. Instead, it was almost as if he’d gone deaf. A sucking sound emitted from where the magic had met, along with a charge in the air around them. Killian glanced at the girls and then at Gothel, all seemed very worried.

The magic that had seemed to disappear just seconds before came back with a vengeance. A shock wave of magic spread out around them and through the town, knocking Killian onto the ground again, his head banging on the pavement (he’d forgotten how many times he became acquainted with the floor during villain battles, that had just come back to him). It had looked just like the True Love’s Kiss wave of magic, except that it was much more forceful and True Love didn’t usually knock you to the ground. At least, that was the last thought running through his head before he blacked out.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Killian, wake up. Please wake up.” The wave of magic had pushed the porch swing Emma had been passed out on into the wall of the house. The jolt from it had woken her up to find everyone crumpled on the ground. Henry had rushed out of the house to see what had happened, apparently feeling well enough now to join in the battle. Emma had discovered that her ankle could not support her weight, and Henry had helped her hobble over to Killian while he checked on the girls and Gothel.

“Killian, please,” she said, begging, praying that he was okay. They couldn’t have endured all this to not come out of it unscathed. She placed her hands on his chest in preparation to shake him, but a small groan escaped from his mouth letting Emma know that he was gaining consciousness.

“Swan, can’t you leave a man to sleep in peace,” Killian said, obviously not completely understanding what was happening quite yet. “And why the hell does my head hurt so much?” Emma would have laughed if their situation wasn’t so dire.

“Killian, open your eyes, please. I sprained my ankle and Henry’s checking on the girls.” That got his attention. He sat up with a start, his hand immediately coming to the back of his head where he’d hit it and winced in pain.

“Bloody hell, that hurts.” He finally opened his eyes and stared at her, his face a mixture of relief and concern. He pulled her into a fierce hug and whispered into her ear, “Thank goodness you’re alright. I was so worried.” 

“I could say the same about you,” she said, kissing him on the cheek and making her way to his mouth. She needed to feel his lips against hers to really know that he was alright.

“You know me love, I’m a survivor, most of the time.” He waggled his eyebrows at her (first date memory check), and then, “Did you say your ankle was hurt?” Killian asked, his whole demeanor changing and his gaze shifting toward her swollen ankle. Emma waved his concern away. 

“It’s fine, I’ve had worse.” She gave him a reassuring smile and kissed him once more. Her heart was still beating wildly in her chest. She could have lost him, again. She wasn’t sure how many times her heart could take him dying on her. Killian smiled into her kiss, but then pulled away in an instant, a look of fear clouding his face.

“Where are the girls?” He asked urgently. He attempted to get up, and Emma could tell he had some injuries that would most likely have to be addressed later on, as it took him longer than it should to heave himself up from the ground.

As if on cue, they heard Henry calling for them. They rushed over to him as best they could in their injured states. 

“Are the girls okay, Henry?” Emma whimpered once they got closer to him. Both girls seemed to be laid out on their across street neighbor’s front yard. They had landed next to each other, their hands still clasped together, little currents of magic sparking from them. They almost looked peaceful, like they had decided to take a nap on the front lawn together. “Henry?”

Her son looked up at them, tears streaming down his cheeks. “I can’t… They don’t…” Henry wiped his tears on the sleeve of his shirt and then just shook his head.

Emma felt as though ice water had just been injected into her veins. They couldn’t be...She couldn’t even bear to think what they couldn’t be. They were supposed to defeat Gothel, not be taken down with her. Emma’s vision became blurry and her breathing erratic. Eventually she registered a pain in her hand and she realized that Killian had taken her hand in his at some point and he was squeezing it to bring her out of the panic attack she was about to have. She looked into his face, the face she was just kissing a moment ago, so happy that he was alive. His face that now looks like all his hopes and dreams have been stomped on. 

“Where’s Gothel?” She snarled. Gothel had better hope to god or the gods or whomever that she’s no longer of this realm, because Emma would kill her with her bare hands if that’s what it took.

“Over there.” Henry pointed to the middle of the road, the almost too quiet road, to see Gothel on the ground, looking just as peaceful as the girls.

“Is she…? Killian began to ask, and Henry nodded his head. 

“Same as the girls as far as I…” Henry couldn’t finish the sentence, tears dropping from his eyes again.

Emma dropped down to the girls, Killian following. She brushed Hope’s cheek like she used to when she was a little girl, sleeping after a hard day of just being a child. Killian sobs over Alice, his hands holding her face, their foreheads touching. 

_ She hears Regina crying in the background, not believing Dr. Whale’s diagnosis that there is nothing left they can do for him. She walks tentatively toward him, looking so small in the hospital bed. She wonders if he’s cold without a shirt on. He should have a shirt on. Her chin is trembling as she tries to prevent the tears from spilling down her cheeks. She pushes his hair to the side so she can see his face, the face that she’d only begun to memorize. “I love you, Henry.” she says as her trembling chin barely stops as she kisses his forehead. There is a burst of rainbow light and Henry eyes open and he takes a large breath and smiles at her. “I love you too.” _

“Killian!” Emma said, the force of the memory almost knocking her backwards. How could she have not realized? How could she have forgotten? Killian looked at her, a question in his eyes. She crawled over to where he sat next to Alice and motioned for him to do the same next to Hope. His eyes light up and a smile slowly creeps onto his face as he realized what she’s asking of him.

They both knelt over their daughters’, the one that probably suspects they loved them, but maybe aren’t 100 percent sure because they’d been raised without that other parent. They simultaneously kissed their daughters on the forehead and say “I love you.”, and as hoped, a wave of rainbow light burst forth from them and out through the entire town. 

Both girls’ eyes fluttered open and they took in large breaths of air at the exact same time. They each look at the parent that has just lifted the curse they’d been under, smiling, and both exclaim “I love you too.” at the exact same time, and then proceed to almost strangle the parent that kissed them with hugs around the neck. Henry joins in with the hugs as they sit there in a circle, all hugging one another and crying tears of joy. Emma lost all track of time for how long they embraced when she started to notice a bright white light all around them, which makes no sense since it is night time.

“Mom?” Both Alice and Hope said at the same time, and their voices sound scared. Emma sighed, she really doesn’t want to confront anything else at the moment.

“Hello, Swan-Jones family.” A melodic voice said that sounds like it is everywhere but also right in front of them. They separate to see a tree walking toward them. A tree that is slowly morphing into a woman the closer it gets. No one said a word. What could they say when a tree started talking to them? Emma wondered how hard she hit her head, how hard they all hit their heads because they can obviously all see the tree woman as well.

“I am Gaia, or you may also know me as Mother Earth.” The bark of the tree had transformed into a woman’s face, the leaves now forming her hair, the branches into her arms. Emma was about to make some sort of remark, she wasn’t even sure what, when the name Gaia sparked something in her memory.

“Gaia, as in whom Gothel is supposedly a descendant of?” Emma had really meant to just ask the question, but it came out much more angry. “Gaia, whom Gothel was reclaiming the realms for?” If a tree could have blushed then Gaia most certainly did at these accusations.

“Well,” she said rather sadly looking over at the still sleeping form of Gothel, “not all my descendants understand that nature and humans need to live together in harmony. And also,” Gaia sighed, “she was spurned by a human lover and it seemed to have, what’s the phrase you use? ‘Knocked a few wires loose?’ “Go off the deep end?’ Besides, you did manage to defeat her, so at least some of my scions understand what human life is worth.” She smiled warmly at them. Emma looked at the Gaia tree as if she were crazy, then looked at Killian and her children who were all trying to understand what Gaia was saying.

‘Wait a minute.” Henry said getting up off the ground and walking towards the goddess. “Are you saying we’re all your descendants?” The tree woman looked at him seriously for a moment before answering with a small smile.

“But of course.” She said as though this was the most obvious answer. Gaia stared at them as if this answer would placate them, but Emma noticed they all still looked confused, Emma especially.

“So we’re related to Gothel?” said Hope, also getting up and pulling Alice up with her. They still had not let go of their hands, even through all the hugging. It was as if they thought Gothel would come back if they separated again.

“Well, I mean, technically you’re cousins some hundred times removed, but then again, so are your parents.” She smiled sweetly at them and Emma had never wanted to punch a tree so badly before.

Apparently, Gaia registered the shock and confusion (and anger, definitely anger) coming from all of them because the smile slipped off her face, bark, whatever, rather quickly. Her eyes widened and her mouth contorted into an O.

“You really didn’t know? Killian and Emma, you are both descended from my….family tree.” She smirked at the joke she had just told. Alice looked ecstatic to be from actual goddess lineage, whereas Emma could see that Killian looked almost horror stricken at the thought, and Hope and Henry seemed indifferent to it all, just looking exasperated and wanting more of an explanation. “When you two finally came together, you reunited my bloodline, and that, plus your True Love, is what made Alice and Hope’s magic so powerful.”

Emma and Killian finally stood up and joined the rest of their family near the goddess. She was a lot taller than Emma had thought ( _ well, she is a tree _ ), and almost intimidating, almost.

“So, what was this then?” Emma said, putting her hands on her hips in annoyance. “A battle between distant cousins for your viewing pleasure? A hero’s trial by separating us for years?” She was angry. Angrier than she could ever remember ever being in her life. Angrier than when she’d been passed over by families her whole life. Angrier than when Ingrid tried to kill her. Angrier than when Neal had framed her and left her in jail. Even angrier than when Regina had almost killed Henry when attempting to kill her.

Gaia’s face falls (or falls as much as the tree bark would let her). “I have no claim as to how the prophecy plays out. A seer makes the prophecy, it is written down, and then put out into the world. Whether it is found or not always remains to be seen. And whether anything is done about it is also an uncertainty. Potentially, the prophecy could have come true in a number of ways, or it could have never happened at all. What is your phrase? If a tree falls in a forest does it make a sound? Would the events of the prophecy still have happened if it had never been found?” Gaia’s voice is still melodic and soothing, but Emma detected a hint of malice behind it, like she couldn’t believe mere mortals (or would they technically be part gods since they’re descendants of her, she has no idea how that works) would question her.

“So what becomes of Gothel?” Hope asked, just as hostile ( _ like mother, like daughter _ ).

Gaia fixed all of them with an exasperated look. “You’ve defeated her. Her magic is gone, and she seems to have cursed herself, so unless she has a random True Love around, she’ll be out of your lives for good.” She shook her hands (leaves, branches, whatever) at them in annoyance. “Now, I think since Gothel is out of commission, so is the curse she put on the town.” Gaia gave them all a sly smile. “Go be with your family and friends.” She said kindly. Emma blinked and the tree that Gaia had been inhabiting was now back where it originally was, and Gothel’s body is nowhere to be found.

“Well, that was unexpected.” Killian said, coming up behind her, turning her around, and taking a hand to kiss the knuckles. It’s one of the little things he’d always done to make her feel better.

“Is it really over?” Alice asked, pulling Hope with her as they walked toward herself and Killian, Henry following closely behind them. Henry pulled his leather notebook from inside his jacket pocket along with the Author’s pen. The girls watched amazed as his pen traveled over the pages and the writing seemed to just appear. It took only a few minutes for the whole story (along with illustrations) to appear, and then the final line arrived.

_ Once Hope and Alice had defeated the wicked Gothel, the Swan-Jones family were free from the prophecy and lived the rest of their days worry free. _

“I guess that answers that question.” Hope said partially relieved and partially annoyed. She finally let go of Alice’s hand, the magic that had been a constant circle around their joined hands, finally fizzling out.

“Gaia said the curse was lifted.” Henry said excitedly. “Does that mean your magic is back, Mom?” Emma had almost forgotten that part. She quickly brought up her hand and called on her magic. A rush of relief and tears went through her when she saw the silvery-white ball of magic sitting in her hand. Henry had a huge grin on his face as well when he saw her magic.

“What do you say we go into town and reintroduce ourselves to the citizens of Storybrooke.” Killian said. She nodded, and the rest of the family gave a little cheer. Henry started leading the girls into town (the walk is only a few blocks), but Killian pulled Emma into a searing kiss, one that made her toes curl, and her stomach drop, and made her wish she could drag him upstairs to their bedroom right now. “I remember everything now, love.” He said, his eyes bright. “Everything.” He waggled his eyebrows at her in that way that he thought was seductive, but just made Emma want to roll her eyes at him.

“Later.” She said, pushing him back but taking his hook in her hand. “We have a reunion to get to.” 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	12. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it guys! The final chapter. More of an epilogue. But it's finally done! I'm so grateful for everyone who has encouraged me to write this story and for those that have written wonderful comments about it. I could never have imagined such a response when I originally just had a Parent Trap idea that then turned into a cursed Emma and Killian idea.
> 
> Thank you so much to profdanglais and recoveringthesatellites for being my betas on this. You two and maria81 encouraged me so much to write this and I couldn't imagine it would turn into this great big MC when I did. 
> 
> Also thank you to gingerchangeling for the header for this story and to maria81 for the drawing that she drew me for my birthday that went with this story.
> 
> And thank you to the Captain Swan Supernatural Summer for having this event so I actually had a reason to write this instead of just having the idea in my head.
> 
> So without further ado, the epilogue to Making a Memory.

It always amazed Alice that in her Papa’s cursed persona he obviously still had the love for the ocean but had never rented a boat and taken her out on a cruise around the Boston Harbor. She could see how much he’d missed it when Henry came back from the Enchanted Forest a few months after the curse had broken, with the  _ Jolly Roger _ . It was the least he could do after having lost it in the first place, Henry had said as if it were no big deal (although Alice saw him patching himself up later on, the cuts and bruises from an obvious sword fight he’d had to endure to get the  _ Jolly Roger _ back).

The first time Killian took them out on the water, he dressed himself in his full Captain Hook ensemble. Emma had laughed an almost girlish laugh and blushed, something that horrified both Hope and Henry, but Alice thought it was cute. Henry may have been there for their parents' romance originally, and Hope may not have cared much for it, but Alice loved finally having two parents that were so hopelessly in love. Although, Alice wished her Papa had a few more buttons done up. She supposed that was just the fashion for pirates in the Enchanted Forest.

Their first trip happened the following spring. Killian spent the entire winter fixing the  _ Jolly Roger _ up on the weekends (when the weather permitted), as he and Emma had gone back to being deputies since they’d returned. There was obviously already a sheriff, seeing as Emma had been gone for twelve years, but Sheriff Javert welcomed them back, having remembered them from before they’d been cursed, and because he felt the Three Musketeers weren’t the best deputies (too many hijinx for his taste). Regina putting in a good word for them not only as the mayor, but as Javert’s girlfriend, didn’t hurt either.

And so it became a tradition for the Swan-Jones/Mills family to take a cruise around Storybrooke’s harbor every weekend once the weather permitted.

Alice could still remember how overwhelming it had been to meet everyone for the first time; her shyness and anxiety ramping up as they’d walked down to the center of town, the orange moon hanging in the air (Alice didn’t know if she’d ever be able to see the Harvest Moon without Gothel hanging in front of it ever again). A large amount of people had been milling around, hugging each other and screaming as if they hadn’t seen each other in a long time. Alice guessed they hadn’t really. Even if they’d seen each other everyday, they hadn’t really  _ seen _ each other. Just like their parents hadn’t known who the other was until their memories had broken through.

Alice recognized Snow White and Prince Charming right off the bat, not only from the illustrations in Henry’s books, but from the old photographs in Henry’s photo album that she and Hope loved to look through. Their parents had purposefully avoided running into them when they’d permanently moved there. Something about it being too painful to not see any recognition in their eyes. They turned around, both of their eyes glittering with tears as they had slowly approached Emma. Snow had taken her daughter’s chin in her hands, tears streaming from both of them, and then enveloped her in a huge hug.

“You found us.” Snow had cried, and Emma let out a breath she probably hadn’t even known she’d been holding as David joined them in the hug, cradling Emma’s head with his hand. The whole town seemed to applaud their reunion and the end of the curse breaking. Alice may have gotten a little teary-eyed over the whole thing.

Of course, they were just Grandma and Grandpa now. Alice still found it weird that she had grandparents, and that they were around the same age as her own parents.

“Still think you can captain this ship, old man?” Snow and David had arrived, and David never could stop ribbing Killian about how he finally looked his age.  _ I don’t look 300 years old, mate! _ he’d reply, always trying to suppress a smile. Alice knew he actually liked the ribbing. Also, her Papa was over 300-years-old. Weird.

“If he’s an old man then so are you, Dad,” Emma said, coming up from below deck. She had put her hair back in a simple braid, just like Alice and Hope had, so their hair didn’t get tangled during the trip. “Here Mom, let me help you with that food.” Snow, as Alice and Hope had discovered, loved to cook, and usually cooked enough to leave them leftovers for weeks.

“Don’t worry about it, Emma.” She said, handing off some of the plastic containers to her. “Neal and Eva have everything else. They’re right behind me.” Of course, twelve years later Emma’s baby brother would be sixteen (they’d just recently celebrated his seventeenth birthday that past May), but discovering that she now had an eleven-year-old sister had been a huge shock.  _ I must have been pregnant with her when Gothel enacted the curse. _ Snow had told Emma almost guiltily.

Alice was hiding out up in the crow’s nest, a favorite place of hers. She could still see and hear everything, but sometimes the throng of her family felt suffocating. A hand clasped hers which put Alice at ease. She hadn’t even heard Hope come up. “You doing okay?” Hope asked. 

“Can you believe it’s been a year since we met?” Alice said, avoiding the question Hope had asked her. It was the cause for the festivities this weekend. While they did go out each weekend on the Jolly, there usually wasn’t this much pomp and circumstance (or food) to go along with it.

“I hated you so much.” Hope giggled. It seemed almost impossible that she could have ever hated her sister.

“Well, you weren’t such a walk in the park either,” Alice joshed back, nudging her with her shoulder slightly. 

“Girls!” Emma called from the deck, the food having been all set up buffet style. “Come on down and eat before Dad takes the ship out.” Alice and Hope looked at each other, hands still clasped and floated down from the crow’s nest. 

“Always showing off.” Regina mumbled, setting up her lasagna on the table, while Mary Margaret fussed over them like she always did. It was like she was trying to make up for all the years they’d been separated every single time they saw each other. Hope was kind of annoyed by it, never having cared for being fussed over, but Alice secretly loved it.

“Look how big you two are getting. I swear you’ve grown two inches since I last saw you. We’ll have to go shopping again” Mary Margaret gushed.

“You just saw us yesterday, Grandma.” Hope rolled her eyes as she let go of Alice’s hand and headed over to the table to grab some food.

The twins’ 14th birthday had arrived a week after they’d defeated Gothel and Mary Margaret had literally bought out the few clothing stores in town with anything that fit them. Alice had never been so doted on in her life.  _ You realize that if we were in the Enchanted Forest we’d be getting you ready for your first royal balls.  _ Snow had sighed during the shopping trip. She insisted for their 16th birthday they would have a ball of some sort with real ballgowns and dancing. Alice was elated and Hope was horrified. Snow had just laughed about how much like her mother she was, and that she fell in love with their father at a ball, despite everything.

They all sat around on the deck stuffing their faces with delicious food. The kids and Henry all sitting together, watching and commenting on the adults. Like how Regina and Javert fought all the time, but that just apparently fueled their fire (ew). Or Snow and David always had an eye on the other one no matter where they were. Or how Killian was always stroking a lock of Emma’s hair and she loved playing with the hair on the nape of his neck (“Do they always have to be so obvious about it?” Hope complained. “You know you love it.” Henry retorted back.). They also teased Neal about his crush on Lexi Herman (apparently the daughter of Cinderella), and how he’d spectacularly been shot down when asking her to prom a few months ago (“She’s 20. In a few years the age difference won’t matter to her.” Henry had said matter-of-factly.).

After everyone finished eating and the food was packed away in the refrigerator that was in the Captain’s quarters (August had wired up the  _ Jolly Roger _ with electricity as well), Killian took the Jolly out to cruise around Storybrooke Harbor. Killian had been teaching Alice and Hope how to steer the ship. Hope didn’t seem all that interested, but Alice was thrilled (must have had something to do with the whole manipulating water powers that she had). The weight of the ship’s wheel in her hands and the feel of the wooden planks beneath her feet had brought her a sense of comfort she’d never known in her life before. Her Papa had her guide the ship once they’re far enough from land for him to worry about her hitting anything (okay, so she hit the floating dock that one time…), and he went to stand by Emma as she looked out over the water.

After the battle and the curse ending it had been like starting over again. All of a sudden Hope and Alice had been thrust into the limelight. They’d gone from being those new twins from Boston to the twins who had magic and had defeated Gothel. The daughters of the Savior and Captain Hook. Alice could no longer meld into the background like she had been and Hope now had to deal with people wanting to be her friends who were less than genuine (although, she’d still managed to find a boyfriend in Lexi’s younger brother, Ryan). Their peers hadn’t grown up with magic like everyone else in the town had and it had affected many of the children who had no idea about the Enchanted Forest; unlike the previous curse in which all the children actually had their memories restored and knew about everything. Dr. Hopper had been very busy in helping children believe their background was actually rooted in fairy tales and that  _ didn’t _ make them insane. The trips on the  Jolly Roger helped ground Alice (which she found completely ironic), made her feel safe, and more in tune with reality.

Finding out that she had a twin had been strange enough, but finding out she was the granddaughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, the daughter of the Savior and Captain Hook, sister to the storybook author, and somewhat adjacently related to the Evil Queen was just plain out of this world. And Alice loved their family, but never in a million years would she have dreamed that she would have the large family she’d now acquired. After everything had been said and done, Hope told her she must have been a little psychic as well, after all, she had claimed to have dreamed about many of the people in the Enchanted Forest before Henry’s book had even been published. Hope almost seemed jealous that Alice had had their family with her long before she’d even known they existed. 

“You’re doing wonderful, Starfish,” Killian said, extricating himself from Emma and coming back over to the wheel. “Why don’t you take a break and go hang out with your sister.” He ruffled her hair and gave her a peck on the top of her head. It was still a complete trip for her to imagine that her Papa had once been the notorious Captain Hook, even after seeing him in full pirate regalia.

She settled herself on a large amount of pillows where Hope and Henry were hanging out (Papa had a thing about pillows, lots and lots of pillows everywhere), but could still see the ocean. Alice could tell that Papa was getting ready to bring the Jolly back toward Storybrooke, so she leaned back and just watched the water fly by. 

“So, a year, huh?” Henry asked right as she’d gotten herself comfortable. Both Alice and Hope turned their heads toward him, smiling.

“Was it as you thought it would be?” Hope wondered. “Finding us, getting us to believe, and fighting Gothel?”

“Honestly, I had a hundred different scenarios in my head as to how things could have gone. I’m just glad we all survived it and no one got hurt. I’m just glad I ended up with my dad and both of my sisters.” Henry was almost blushing. His sequel to  _ Once Upon a Time _ had been another best seller.  _ Emma’s Story _ had brought his audience into the modern world while already knowing the fairy tales were true. There was even talk about making his books into a movie or television series (Alice voted for television series, she couldn’t imagine how they’d get that much information into a movie). His last book in the series was going to be published in a few months, on their 15th birthday of all days. The story of how Lianna Jones and Faith Swan (names changed, obviously) had met at camp and then had come together to defeat Gothel while the beloved town of Storybrooke had no clue who they really were.  _ Once Upon a Time: A Happy Beginning _ .

“I’m glad we survived too.” Hope said, rolling her eyes. “And I’m glad we have our entire family together. I always thought it would just be us and mom, I’m glad we got the full package deal.” She laughed as she really thought about it. “Who would have guessed that my urge to want to go to sleep away camp would end with me finding my long-lost twin and father?” 

“Or that we’d be related to fairy tale characters.” Alice chimed in.

“And that we’d have magic.” Hope said as she created a green spark from her hand (green like her mother and grandmother’s eyes).

How different one year made. Last year all Alice and Hope had worried about was school and friends. Never in a million years would they have thought they would be surrounded by such a large family. Never in a million years would they have thought they’d have each other.

And at that thought, both girls stood up to look at their family on the ship (it still took them by surprise how in sync their thoughts were), the family that only a year ago they didn’t know they had. It almost brought tears to their eyes (yes, even Hope who had finally let some of those walls down to let love in). They both breathed in the salty sea air that they now associated with their father. 

“What are you two up to?” asked Henry as he watched them from his spot on the deck.

“We’re making a memory,” they both answered. They smiled as they watched their mother lean in to give their father a kiss as he steered the ship back toward the dock.

Back to Storybrooke.

Their home.

  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
